''Protium heptaphyllum'', also known as almécega, breu, and almíscar, is a species of tree from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

commonly found in the areas of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the

Guyanas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * G ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The plant is typically harvested by locals for resin, food, wood, and other medical uses.

Description

''Protium heptaphyllum'' is a large, woody tree that is evergreen and can grow to be 10 to 20 meters tall (32 to 65 feet).

Ecology

''Protium heptaphyllum'' has been found to flourish in

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

. The biome that this species occupies is the tropical rainforest. This species can be found sandy soils throughout these regions that are wet. Seed dispersal is carried out by animals in these regions, more specifically leaf-cutting ants. These organisms take leaves from the plants to the fungus they share a symbiotic relationship with. This is not only beneficial to the plant, as this helps the plant get its seeds dispersed, but it also helps the ant keep the

symbiotic relationship Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

it carries out with their fungus. These ants are also known to be good pollinators for this species. Studies have not been able to fully understand the relationship between this species and the leaf-cutting ants, but it has been proven that they help with seed-dispersal and pollination. ''Protium heptaphyllum'' is a subtropical plant, it can resist temperatures up to 4 degrees Celsius.

Cultivation

''Protium heptaphyllum'' is cultivated throughout Brazil, since it is a plant that adapts to sand and clay soils. This species cannot be cultivated in swampy soils or next to rivers where there is constant flooding.

Uses

Fruit in the months from January to March. The fruits have a sweet and refreshing pulp and look like Halls candy, which can be consumed fresh. The tree can be planted in squares and large gardens for producing great shade or in revegetation projects for permanent preservation, aiming to provide food for birds and monkeys. The resin has medicinal and insecticidal properties. The wood has a reddish color and is used in civil constructions, floors, carpentry and joinery, its dense canopy provides ornamental purposes to the plant and can be used in urban or rural areas. ''P. heptaphyllum'' also releases chemicals from the resin on its leaves that can be used to create essential oils.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q9063301 heptaphyllum Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Christian Fusée-Aublet