Sandbox Tree

Sandbox Tree

Taxobox
name = Sandbox Tree


regnum = Plantae
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 and South America in Amazon 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 are monoecious. The red flowers have no petals. Male flowers grow on long spikes; female flowers are solitary in axils. The fruit 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


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  • sandbox tree — n. a tropical American tree (Hura crepitans) of the spurge family, with small, woody fruit that bursts with a loud noise when ripe and scatters its seeds …   English World dictionary

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  • sandbox tree — a tropical American tree, Hura crepitans, of the spurge family, bearing a furrowed, roundish fruit about the size of an orange that when ripe and dry bursts with a sharp report and scatters the seeds. [1740 50] * * * ▪ plant       either of two… …   Universalium

  • sandbox tree — /ˈsændbɒks tri/ (say sandboks tree) noun a tree, Hura crepitans, of tropical America, bearing a furrowed roundish fruit about the size of an orange which when ripe and dry bursts with a sharp report and scatters the seeds …  

  • Sandbox tree — Hura (E) …   EthnoBotanical Dictionary

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  • white sandbox — noun : a young or second growth sandbox tree with white wood compare yellow sandbox …   Useful english dictionary

  • yellow sandbox — noun : a mature sandbox tree with yellowish wood compare white sandbox …   Useful english dictionary

  • sandboxtree — sandbox tree n. A tropical American tree (Hura crepitans) having an irritating milky juice, a spiny trunk, and large woody seed capsules that split explosively when ripe.   [So called because the capsules were formerly used to hold sand for… …   Universalium

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