Spondias mombin L. Jobo (Anacardiaceae)

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Espinoza, R., Masís, A., Chavarría, F., Guadamuz, A. and Perez, D., 1998. Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae) Species Page, June 15, 1998. Species Home Pages, Area de Conservation Guanacaste, Costa Rica. http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr

Trees up to 30 m tall and DBH of 90 cm.

Flower:

White, perfect (both sexes on the same flower), aromatic flowers. The inflorescence is arranged in a terminal panicule . Flowers in March.

Various views of the inflorescence

Fruit:

The fruits are an orange-yellow color. When mature they are edible and sweet.

caption

Leaves:

The leaves are imparipinnate and alternate and reach up to 60 cm in length. There are 11-25 eliptically shaped leaflets per leaf.

under surface	upper surface
Detail of the under surface of leaflet	Detail of the upper surface of the leaflet

Bark and wood:

The bark is grey. One diagnostic characteristic is its deeply fissured external bark.

Bark

Whole plant architecture:

Similar species:

Spondias purpurea is an introduced species and is not found in the forests. The leaflets of Spondias mombin are much smaller than those of Spondias purpurea. Also, the bark of Spondias purpurea is smooth.

Verification:

II.Geografic distribution:

International:

México to Panamá (Croat 1978).

In Costa Rica

In the Guanacaste Conservation Area:

In the semideciduous and deciduous forests.

Map of macro-habitats of the ACG

III. Natural History:

IV. How to find:

It is easy to find this species walking on the trails of the El Hacha Sector and in the Santa Rosa Sector.

Acknowledgments.

This project was carried out by the Area de Conservación Guanacaste/CR, with help from INBio/CR, ICBG from the Foggarty center, NIH/USA and NSF/USA.

Thanks to Kate Beattie who helped with the management of the images and translation of this species page.

Literature cited: