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Membrillo
Gustavia superba
Gustavia superba is an understory tree in the family Lecythidaceae, that grows in Central and north-western South America.
Common names include membrillo, sachamango, Stinkwood and heaven lotus. The trunk is around 5-10 m high with a rosette of very large leaves radiating from the top (like palms). These leaves can be up to 1.28 m (4 ft 2 in) long by less than 30 cm wide.
From the article Gustavia superba on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
The tree is not widely known outside its native range from Ecuador to Panama and Venezuela, but has been planted in tropical botanical gardens, including in Singapore (where it is referred to as 'pungol') and Australia.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
What it does
Gustavia superba grows naturally as an understory tree, where it is abundant, especially in secondary forests . It appreciates abundant moisture, sun and well drained soil. It branches little until mature, and has a bunch of leaves at the top, so that it resembles a palm. Seeds are dispersed by agoutis. The leaves are a favourite food of iguanas.
Wikipedia: “Ecology”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Gustavia superba in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 343874.