Cordia alliodora

(Ruiz & Pav.) Oken

(Boraginaceae)


Chavarría, F., Espinoza, R., Masís, A., Guadamuz, A. y Perez, D. 1998. Cordia alliodora (Boraginaceae) Species Page, June 15, 1998. Species Home Pages, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr


I. Identification:

Tree approximately 5-30 m tall.

Flower:

Clusters of white flowers.

Fruit:

The fruits consist of only one winged seed and are dispersed by wind.

Leaves:

Simple alternate. They are very easy to distinguish because the branches originate from a swollen node.

Node

 

Bark and wood:

Whole plant architecture:

Similar species:

The fruits of Cordia gerascanthus are similar in appearence to those of C. alliodora but are larger.

Verification:

II.Geographic distribution:

International:

From Mexico to the Amozon river basin (Carpio 1995).

In Costa Rica:

In both the Pacific and Antlantic water sheds.

In the Area de Conservación Guanacaste:

In lowland semideciduous habitats.

Map of macro-habitats of the ACG

III. Natural History:

Ants from the genus Azteca(Formicidae) live in the nodes and prevent vines from growing on the tree. The ants do not discard the waste but store it in the nodes. These ants protect the tree, but they feed on scale insects (Homoptera) and on the nectar suctioned from the tree by the scales.?(pero estas se alimentan de insectos escama (Homoptera) y del nectar que producen las escamas al succionar de la planta.)

The seeds are despersed by a Amblicerus (Bruchidae).

IV. How to find:

They are very easy to locate in the Santa Rosa, Centeno, Pocosol, and El Hacha sectors along the sides of roads and trails.


Acknowledgements.

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 for helping with the image management and the translation of this species page.

Literature cited:

Carpio, Ma. Isabel. 1995. Maderas de Costa Rica. Editorial de la Univesidad Costa Rica, San José.