Author: Linnaeus
Morphological description
Trees. Stipules caducous.
Leaves bifoliolate (Hymenaea courbaril lf 256074 ), petiolate. Leaflets pellucid-punctate.
Inflorescences terminal, paniculate or corymbose-paniculate; bracts and bracteoles caducous.
Flowers pedicelled, all parts pellucid-punctate (Hymenaea courbaril fl 256076 ). Hypanthium narrowly campanulate. Calyx lobes 4, imbricate. Petals 5, subequal, slightly zygomorphic, imbricate. Disk absent. Stamens 10, free, exserted; filaments folded in bud, more or less equal in length; anthers dorsifixed and versatile, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary stipitate, excentric with adnate stipe,3-15- (or more-)ovuled.
Pods indehiscent, woody,3-8- (or more-)seeded (Hymenaea courbaril pod 256077 ).
Seeds non-arillate , ex al bumi nous .
Distribution
A genus consisting of 14 species (including their varieties) (fide Lee & Langenheim, 1975: 51): 13 in Mexico, West Indies, and tropical South America; only one of them occurring in E tropical Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles. The following two species are cultivated in Malesia: Hymenaea courbaril and Hymenaea verrucosa .
Uses
Producing commercially valuable gum-resins or copals and to a limited extent for medicinal purposes. The resin is also used in varnishes. The pulpy (endocarp) tissue surrounding the seeds is edible. See Burkill (1935: 1235), and Heyne (1950: 730).