Suicide Tree

Tachigali versicolor reproduces only once in its lifetime once the trees are mature. Within a year of flowering the tree rapidly dies and falls over. The trait was first noticed by Robin Foster in 1970, while working in Panama. Carlos Fonseca reported that another species in the genus, Tachigali myrmecophila is also monocarpic. The age at which they reproduce is unknown, however, and growth rates vary widely depending on the amount of light that the trees grow in. Reproduction (and death) has been observed to occur in a four to six-year cycle; if flowering occurs one year then it will not occur for the next three to five years. When studied on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, they were observed to flower in 1970, 1974, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1994. Despite the suicidal nature of their reproductive strategy they do not appear to divert any more nutrients into their one set of seeds than other similar trees. While apparently maladaptive, the strategy has been suggested to be effective at maintaining populations, as when the parent tree dies it creates a gap in the canopy which the seedlings require to grow. Flowering occurs between January and July, with individuals flowering for between 6 and 12 weeks. The fruits are large, wind dispersed samaras and they mostly fall within 100m of the parent tree. …

Indigenous people in the Amazon basin use an extract of the tree to treat fungal skin infections and it is also used as timber.