Ocotea catharinensis
Species of tree
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ocotea catharinensis is a member of the plant family Lauraceae. It is a slow-growing evergreen, a valuable hardwood tree of broad ecological importance, and it is threatened by habitat loss and by overexploitation for its timber and essential oils.
| Ocotea catharinensis | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Spermatophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Ocotea |
| Species: | O. catharinensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ocotea catharinensis Mez. | |
Distribution
The tree is endemic to southeastern Brazil in the Atlantic Forest ecoregion.[1]
It is found in Paraná, Rio de Janeiro Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo states.[1][2]
It can be a dominant canopy tree in the tropical rainforests of these states. It grows on deep, rich, well-drained soils on slopes between 30–900 metres (98–2,953 ft) in elevation.
Description
Ocotea catharinensis is a slow-growing monoecious evergreen hardwood up to 40m tall. Its flowers are small and hermaphrodite. The ovary is glabrous with a well developed ovule. Often not all the locelli are fertile.[clarification needed][citation needed]
It is a honey-bearing tree and its fruits are eaten by birds and mammals, including the endangered monkey Brachyteles arachnoides.[3]
Uses
The tree is badly overexploited for its valuable hardwood, its essential oils with their (linalool) content, and for various pharmaceutical compounds or prospects such as neolignans.[4] From the early- to mid-20th century the wood was popular for the flooring of houses in the Brazilian coastal State of Santa Catarina.
Conservation
In 1997 it appeared in the IUCN Red List as a Vulnerable species, which it retains currently.[1] Since then it has been described as "on the verge of extinction" and research is being published on prospects for its somatic propagation.[5]
