''Manilkara bidentata'' is a species of '' Manilkara'' native to a large area of northern South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Common names include bulletwood, balatá, ausubo, massaranduba, quinilla, and (ambiguously) " cow-tree".

Description

The balatá is a large tree, growing to tall. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

are alternate, elliptical, entire, and long. The flowers are white, and are produced at the beginning of the rainy season. The fruit is a yellow

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

, in diameter, which is edible; it contains one (occasionally two) seed(s). Its latex is used industrially for products such as

chicle Chicle () is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus ''Manilkara'', including '' M. zapota'', '' M. chicle'', '' M. staminodella'', and '' ...

Uses

The latex is extracted in the same manner in which sap is extracted from the

rubber tree ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now pan ...

. It is then dried to form an inelastic rubber-like material. It is almost identical to gutta-percha (produced from a closely related southeast Asian tree), and is sometimes called ''gutta-balatá''. Balatá was often used in the production of high-quality golf balls, to use as the outer layer of the ball. Balatá-covered balls have a high spin rate, but do not travel as far as most balls with a Surlyn cover. Due to the nondurable nature of the material the golf club strikes, balatá-covered balls do not last long before needing to be replaced. While once favored by professional and low-handicap players, they are now obsolete, replaced by newer Surlyn and

urethane Urethane may refer to: *Ethyl carbamate, a chemical compound which is an ester of carbamic acid *Polyurethane, a polymer composed of a chain of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links *Carbamate In organic chemistry, a carbamate is a ...

technology. Today, Brazil is the largest producer of Massaranduba wood, where it is cut in the Amazon rainforest. The tree is a hardwood with a red heart, which is used for furniture and as a construction material where it grows. Locals often refer to it as bulletwood for its extremely hard wood, which is so dense that it does not float in water. Drilling is necessary to drive nailed connections. In trade, it is occasionally (and incorrectly) called "

brazilwood ''Paubrasilia echinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood ( pt, pau-de-pernambuco, ; ...

". The fruit, like that of the related sapodilla ('' M. zapota''), is edible. Though its heartwood may present in a shade of purple, ''Manilkara bidentata'' should not be confused with another tropical tree widely known as "purpleheart", ''

Peltogyne ''Peltogyne'', commonly known as purpleheart, violet wood, amaranth and other local names (often referencing the colour of the wood) is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae; native to tropical rainforests of Central ...

pubescens''. This timber is being used to produce outdoor furniture and is being marketed as "Pacific Jarrah" in Australia. File:Manilkara bidentata MHNT.BOT.2010.6.32.jpg, ''Manilkara bidentata'' - MHNT File:Logging Bulletwood Berbice-Guyana JK.JPG, Harvesting bulletwood in Guyana File:Tropenmuseum Royal Tropical Institute Objectnumber 1336-6 Zweep van balata.jpg, A whip handle of balatá, made before 1939

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q804658 bidentata Plants described in 1807 Trees of South America Natural materials Organic polymers Rubber Elastomers