Guazuma ulmifolia Lam., Sterculiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bastard cedar, jacocalalu, West Indian elm

French: bois d'orme

Spanish: bolaina negra, cabeza de negro, caulote, guácima, guácimo, guácimo, guásima

Habit:  tree

Description:  "This tree is recognized by: (1) long widely spreading branches, horizontal or slightly drooping, with the alternate leaves in 2 rows in a flattened arrangement; (2) bark becoming furrowed and rough or slightly shaggy; (3) young twigs covered with minute rusty-brown or light gray star-shaped hairs; (4) the ovate to lance-shaped leaves 2 1/2-5 inches long and 1-2 1/2 inches wide, long-pointed, finely saw-toothed, and with 3 or sometimes 5 main veins from the rounded oblique base; (5) small brown-tinged yellow 5-parted flowers in clusters at base of leaves; and (6) fruit rounded to elliptic, hard, very warty, black, 5/8 - 1 inch long.

"A small to medium-sized tree to 50 feet high and 2 feet in trunk diameter, with spreading rounded crown.  The bark is gray or gray brown, 1/4 inch or more in thickness.  Inner bark is light brown, fibrous, and slightly bitter.  Evergreen except in areas with long dry seasons.  The log slender twigs become dark brown.
"The slender petioles 1/4-1/2 inch long are covered with minute rusty-brown or light gray star-shaped hairs. Leaf blades are thin, nearly hairless or sometimes densely hairy, green on upper surface and paler beneath.  At night the leaves hang vertically.
"Branched flower clusters (panicles) are 1-2 inches long at base of leaves and bear many small, slightly fragrant flowers on minutely hairy stalks.  The spreading flowers are about 3/8 inch long and half as broad, consisting of a 2- or 3-lobed rusty-brown or light gray hairy calyx less than 1/8 inch long, turned back and then greenish, 5 yellow petals each with a slender 2-forked appendage, and yellowish stamen column with about 15 anthers surrounding the pistil, composed of hairy light green 5-celled ovary, style, and 5 united stigmas.
"The warty seed capsules, which mature in fall and winter, are 5-celled, open at the apex or irregularly by pores, and contain many seeds 1/8 inch long" (Little and Wadsworth, 1964; pp. 338-340).

Habitat/ecology:  "This species is characteristic of openings, stream banks, clearings, and second growth of disturbed areas and is less common in forests.  It requires light, grows rapidly, and is hardy in dry as well as moist areas.  Thus, it has been classed as a weed tree" (Little and Wadsworth, 1964; pp. 338-340).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Throughout West Indies (except Bahamas) from Cuba to Trinidad and Tobago and cultivated in Dutch West Indies. Also from Mexico to Ecuador, Peru, northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil." (Little and Wadsworth, 1964; pp. 338-340).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcan Sierra Negra	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1964) (p. 338)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1964) (p. 338)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1964) (p. 338)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:  Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

Additional online information about Guazuma ulmifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Guazuma ulmifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Little, Elbert L./Wadsworth, Frank H. 1964. Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook No. 249. 548 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.