- Clusia major
-
Clusia major 
Clusia major Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Malpighiales Family: Clusiaceae Subfamily: Clusioideae Tribe: Clusieae Genus: Clusia Species: C. major Binomial name Clusia major Synonyms C. rosea Jacq. (1760)
Clusia major (synonym: Clusia rosea), the autograph tree, copey, balsam apple, pitch-apple, and Scotch attorney, is a tropical and sub-tropical plant species in the genus Clusia.
Contents
Description
Clusia major is a tree found in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Cuba, and Puerto Rico - such as in Los Haitises National Park. It is a hemiepiphyte plant. [1] The flowers are white. The upper leaf tissue registers 'writing' giving it the common name autograph tree. The tree produces a fleshy, light green but poisonous fruit; once the fruit has split, the seeds are favored by birds and other wildlife. Clusia major has become a great threat to Sri Lanka, Hawaii, and many other countries as an invasive plant. In Florida, however, it is a popular and useful ornamental that has not escaped cultivation. In Sri Lanka it's known as ගල් ගොරක or ගල් ඉද්ද in Sinhala.
Cultivation
This plant is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for its flowers, foliage, and fruit. It is planted in gardens as a fruiting and ornamental tree in sub-tropical climates, and used as a houseplant in many climates. [2]
Clusia major - the Autograph tree:
a leaf with autograph, flower, dried fruit, and fresh fruit.See also
- Bahamian dry forests
- Cuban pine forests
References
- ^ http://titanarum.uconn.edu/198500434.html uconn.edu - Clusia major
- ^ www.hear.org - Clusia rosea
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
This Clusiaceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
