Harman Patil (Editor)

Chlorocardium

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Kingdom
  
Plantae

Family
  
Lauraceae

Higher classification
  
Lauraceae

Order
  
Laurales

Scientific name
  
Chlorocardium rodiei

Rank
  
Genus

Chlorocardium httpssydneyfongfileswordpresscom201307gre

Similar
  
Chlorocardium rodiei, Lauraceae, Caryodaphnopsis, Dicypellium, Aiouea

Chlorocardium is a genus of the family Lauraceae. It contains only two species, C. rodiei and C. venenosum, and is native to northern South America. The name Chlorocardium means green (chloro-) heart (cardia), referring to the wood.

They are trees up to 40 m high, mostly 30 m high, and are hermaphrodites. They are slow-growing canopy evergreen trees and have a valuable timber. The wood and bark are pleasantly scented. They are present in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and the Guiana Shield (in northeastern Brazil, Venezuela (Amazonas, BolĂ­var and Delta Amacuro states), Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana).

The species are heavily used by the timber industry. This causes a shortage of mature trees. Their timber is of great commercial value and much exploited, but C. rodiei is able to produce sprouts from more than 50% of stumps.

Ecology

They grow in evergreen tropical forests. The ecological requirements of the genus are those of moisture precipitating almost continuously in cloud-cover for much of the year.

The fruit, a drupe, is an important food source for birds.

The common name in Guyana is greenheart.

References

Chlorocardium Wikipedia