- Sandbox Tree
Taxobox
name = Sandbox Tree
regnum =Plant ae
divisio =Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Euphorbiales
familia =Euphorbiaceae
genus = "Hura"
species = "H. crepitans"
binomial = "Hura crepitans"
binomial_authority = L.The Sandbox tree ("Hura crepitans";
syn. "Hura brasiliensis" Wild.), also known as Possumwood and Jabillo, is an evergreen tree of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae ), native to tropical regions of North andSouth America inAmazon Rainforest . It is recognized by the many dark, pointed spines and smooth brown bark. These spines have caused it to be called Monkey no-climb.Sandbox trees can grow to 100 ft, and the large
ovate leaves grow to two feet wide. They aremonoecious . The redflower s have no petals. Male flowers grow on long spikes; female flowers are solitary inaxils . Thefruit is a large capsule with explosive dehiscence. When ripe, pods catapult the seeds as far as 100 meters (328 ft). [Feldkamp, Susan (2006). Modern Biology. United States: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. pp. 618] It has also been known as the Dynamite tree, so named for the explosive sound of the ripe fruit as it splits into segments.This tree prefers wet soil, and partial shade or partial sun to full sun. It is often cultivated for shade.
Fishermen have been said to use the milky, caustic sap from this tree to poison fish. The wood is used for furniture under the name "hura".
"Hura crepitans" is an additive to some forms of the hallucinogenic drink
Ayahuasca . [ [http://www.serendipity.li/dmt/hoasca.html Ayahuasca Analogues] ]References
Notes
General references
* [http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/TechSheets/Chudnoff/TropAmerican/html_files/huracr1new.html Center for Wood Anatomy Research, details about the wood of the Sandbox tree]
* [http://www.bio.miami.edu/arboretum/Sandboxtree.html Sandbox tree page at the John C. Gifford Arboretum site (University of Miami)]External links
*pt icon [http://www.esalq.usp.br/trilhas/medicina/am20.php University of São Paulo: "Hura crepitans"] photos
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.