Common name: Cuipo

Originating in tropical America, in the region extending from Panama through Colombia to Ecuador, this tree dominates the forest canopy, towering over other trees with its great height and sprawling crown.

Exceptional specimens may reach heights of up to 40 m (130 ft), though more typically 25 to 30 m (80 to 100 ft), with a bulbous, bottle-shaped trunk, a base up to 2 m (6.5 ft) wide in large specimens, and a taper toward the crown. 

A fast-growing tree, it averages 1 m (3.2 ft) or more in height per year and sheds its lower branches, even when growing in the open, resulting in a seemingly small, out-of-proportion crown atop the trunk. The branches are few and wide-spreading, forming an umbrella shape. The bark is grey and smooth, except for old branch scars encircling the trunk every few meters along the length. 

Leaves are large, dark green and soft-textured; on young trees, oval, becoming lobed as the tree ages. They fall from the tree during the dry season, leaving the branches bare and exposed.

The flowers are small, five-petaled and pinkish-orange, borne in large rounded clusters at the branch tips. They bloom in the dry season when the tree is leafless and are followed by large, single-seeded, papery seedpods with five wings designed for wind dispersal.

Use

The tree's great height and conspicuous trunk make it a botanical curiosity, particularly in large parks and public gardens, where it has room to grow and put on its best display.

The wood is yellowish-white to pale brown, lightweight, averaging around 100 kg per cubic meter (6.25 lb per cubic foot), and has low natural resistance to rot, decay, and wood-boring insects. This limits its suitability for construction purposes, other than as a partial substitute for Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale).

In parts of its native range, long river canoes are made from the trunk. Known as 'dug-out canoes', they are crafted by hollowing out the soft wood at the centre.

Deforestation has reduced the tree's natural habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared it a species in need of conservation.

Climate

Grows naturally in humid tropical climates, generally areas with annual lows of 19 to 25°C, annual highs of 27 to 35°C, annual rainfall of 800 to 3000 mm and a dry season of 2 to 6 months.

Growing

Cuipo is not usually cultivated. However, new plants can be started from seed. The seed loses its viability quickly and should be collected and sown soon after the seedpods have fallen to the ground.

Performs best on free-draining, friable clay loam, loam, and sandy loam soils of a slightly acid to alkaline nature, generally with a pH of 6.0 to 8.0, and on sites with full sun exposure.

Problem features

There does not appear to be any record of it anywhere as a weed or invasive species.

Books

• Barwick, M., et al. 2004, Tropical & subtropical trees : a worldwide encyclopaedic guide, Thames and Hudson, London

• Croat, T. B. 1978, Flora of Barro Colorado Island, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California

• Francis, J. K. 1998, Tree species for planting in forest, rural, and urban areas of Puerto Rico, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico

• Record, S. J. & Hess, R. W., 1972, Timbers of the New World, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut & Arno Press, New York