''Brosimum utile''
(Kunth), also called ''Galactodendron'',
Pittier (= ''B. galactodendron)
'' is a plant species in the family
Moraceae
The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...
.
Description
''Brosimum utile'' can grow to a height of 30m.
It is monoecious and has bisexual inflorescences.
History
In 1799 the German polymath
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...
, accompanied by French botanist
Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland (; 22 August 1773 – 11 May 1858) was a French explorer and botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America from 1799 to 1804. He co-authored volumes of the scientific results of their ex ...
, embarked on a five-year trip to South America. On one occasion in January 1800 they traveled 130 miles, climbing the Silla de Caracas mountain near Caracas, Venezuela, passed through the valleys of Aragua and Tui, visited the mountains of Los Tequos, the hot springs of Mariare and Trinchera, and the northern shore of the lake of Valencia (by the town of Valencia, Venezuela), where they made the discovery of the cow-tree, so called from its yielding milk. They continued through New Valencia and over the mountain range of Higuerote to Puerto Cabello, 20 miles north of Valencia.
By February 1801 they had reached Havana, Cuba. Humboldt took the precaution of making two copies of their descriptions of plants, consisting of two volumes, and containing 1,400 specimens. One copy went to France to be retrieved for Bonpland and one to London through John Fraser to the German botanist
Carl Ludwig Willdenow
Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was als ...
, Humboldt's friend and early instructor. Willdenow started work on the project, but his premature death required Humboldt to pass on this immense challenge to Carl Sigismund Kunth who completed the work. Bonpland never completed his assignments for this task.
The number of plants actually described during the five-year journey amounted to 4,528, and the descriptions filled six volumes three folios and three quartos. The localities of all these plants, as described in the 'Nova Genera et Species Plantarum in Peregrinatione ad Plagam Aequinoctialem Collectarum,'
are denoted with the barometric determination of the height above the sea, a detail which has never before been introduced into any botanical work.
These volumes were employed by the celebrated German botanist
Carl Sigismund Kunth
Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the Americas, American c ...
, Director of the Botanic Gardens at Berlin, in editing at Paris the 'Nova Genera et Species.' As only about a fifth of these descriptions are from the pen of Alexander von Humboldt, the volumes on the death of Professor Kunth were sent by Humboldt, in acknowledgment of the indefatigable industry of his fellow traveller, to the Museum of Natural History at Paris, where they were preserved as the property of Bonpland.
In tracking the priority for the discovery and reporting of the cow-tree, it is documented that
Brosimum utile (Kunth) Oken was published in: Allgemeine Naturgeschichte fur alle Stande. Register. 3(3): 1571 (1841)
It took 41 years from when Humboldt discovered this tree and wrote about it in letters from South America to friends in Europe (although known to the Native Americans), to when Kunth was able to compile and definitely publish this and other findings.
Of interest was that as early as 1818, Humboldt's discovery was mentioned in a North American magazine.
"American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review" (New York) 4 1818: 309 Cow tree.
Distribution and habitat
The range of ''Brosimum utile'', a shade-tolerant species native to southern Central America and northern South America, extends from Brazil and Venezuela to Costa Rica, where it is numerous in the tropical wet forests of
Piedras Blancas National Park. This climax-species dominates canopies on well-drained slopes, in addition to thriving in the mountain and upland forests of the
Golfo Dulce region.
The tree can be found in the rainforest of
Golfo Dulce Retreat
''Golfo'' is a 1915 Greek silent film directed by Konstadinos Bahatoris. It is the first Greek feature film. It was based on a popular Greek bucolic play written by Spyridon Peresiadis Spyridon ( grc, Σπυρίδων; ell, Σπυρίδωνας) ...
, where typical features of this species may be observed, including buttresses from which ''Brosimum utiles classic white
latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...
may be extracted. ''Brosimum utile'' is also cultivated in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
Cultivation
Propagation is from seed or from cuttings.
Uses
The white latex of ''Brosimum utile'' is valued for its pharmacological properties and is historically used as a milk substitute by indigenous Central and South Americans. The milk, which contains 5 to 7% protein, can be used for cheese, ice cream, and other products. Taste varies between trees. Some ''brosmium utile'' trees have sweet latex, while others are bitter.
The latex of ''Brosimum utile'' yields a wax called galactin, which can be used in
candle
A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time.
A person who makes candles i ...
s.
The fibrous bark can be used to make
cloth
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
,
sail
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...
s, or
blanket
A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection.
Etymology
The term ...
s.
The wood of ''Brosimum utile'' is sometimes called ''Sande'' and is used for plywood, particleboard, fiberboard, carpentry, light construction, furniture components, and moulding.
Carbon farming
Carbon farming is a name for a variety of agricultural methods aimed at sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soil and in crop roots, wood and leaves. The aim of carbon farming is to increase the rate at which carbon is sequestered into soil ...
applications
The leaves and branch tips can serve as cattle
fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...
. The edible nuts and fruits can be eaten boiled or salted, and can also be used for pig feed.
References
* Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Smithsonian Institution 20:102. 1918
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2713013
utile
Perennial protein crops