Description: One of the largest and most conspicuous trees of the area, reaching over 2 m in trunk diameter and 40 m tall. No buttresses, but the base of the trunk is often swollen at the roots; big trunks are sometimes hollow. The bark of big trees is dark brown, gray, or black, usually with vertical fissures; the inner bark is reddish. Leaves are simple, alternate, long and narrow, oval-shaped, and densely bunched at the end of branches; the upper veins tend to be yellowish in older leaves. On the ground beneath big trees in the forest, there are usually great piles of blackish leaves. Be aware that leaves on juveniles plants are much longer than those on adults.

Reproduction: Flowers are small, whitish, produced above leaves from December to February. The fruit is shaped like a kidney, resembling the cashew, matures from March to May, and is dispersed by birds or mammals. Juveniles in urban areas and farmland often appear far from any adult, showing that common birds readily carry the seed.

Distribution: One of the most abundant trees in the vicinity of Panama City and Gamboa, on both sides of the Canal, and much of the Pacific slope of Panama; in some areas, it forms nearly pure stands, and it can be especially abundant along streams. But it is a tree of secondary forest and disturbed areas, and there are seldom juveniles in mature forest. As a consequence, it is not common in old forest of Barro Colorado or Soberania, although the few trees present are immense. It is much less common on the Atlantic slope.

Similar Species: No other huge tree in the area is as abundant as the espavé, so it is easy to learn its largish leaves, large trunk, dark bark, and lack of buttresses. In the forest, a useful trait is the heavy leaf fall under the crown. But in urban areas and farmland, it is also common as a juvenile, and then it can be confused. A close relative, the cashew, LK anacoc Anacardium occidentale, LK2 has similar leaves and is abundant in farm areas, but the cashew's leaves are smaller and often reddish, and the cashew has a small and irregular trunk, never straight and tall. The frangipani, LK plumag Plumeria acutifolia, LK2 and the wild frangipani LK allosp Laxoplumeria sp., LK2 have leaves very similar in form to the espavé; both, however, drip white latex from a broken leaf. In mature forest, juvenile LK gustsu Gustavia superba LK2 and LK alseis Alseis blackiana LK2 can be confused with espavé, since they have long, bunched leaves; check the leaf form of each. Espavé leaves can usually, but not always, be distinguished from all these by the yellowish upper veins.

Uses: Owing to its abundance and large size, the timber of espavé is frequently sold in markets in Panama, and has many uses, including dugout canoes. The fruit, although resembling cashew, is not edible, but the nut is toasted and consumed locally. Many species in the family Anacardiaceae have toxic oils, and like cashew, uncooked nuts of the espavé are poisonous, but leaves of this species are not toxic.

Descripción: Árbol de 20 a 40 m de alto. Copa redondeada y con follaje denso. Tronco recto y cilíndrico. Algunos de los árboles de edad muy avanzada ocasionalmente tienen el tronco hueco y raíces superficiales y extendidas en la base. Corteza exterior gris o negra, laminar, a veces con fisuras verticales profundas. Corteza interior roja o rosada y con líneas o bandas verticales blancas. El desprendimiento de ramas o heridas en el tronco producen una savia resinosa y aromática, la cual se torna roja o negra con el transcurrir del tiempo. Hojas simples y alternas, agrupadas en los extremos terminales de las ramitas, de 10-35 x 4-12 cm, obovadas, con ápice redondeado, emarginado o agudo, bordes enteros y base decurrente. Pecíolo de 0.5-2 cm de largo, aplanados en la parte superior y pulvinados en la base. Flores verdes o amarillentas. Frutos en nueces arriñonadas, de 2-3.5 cm de largo, colgando de un pedúnculo curvo y carnoso en forma de ‘S’.

Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas y medianas elevaciones, en bosques secos, húmedos o muy húmedos de todo el país. Común en bosques ribereños a lo largo del curso de los ríos y los riachuelos, se adapta muy bien a suelos aluviales bien drenados. Deja caer parcialmente sus hojas durante la estación seca, pero las repone a inicios de la estación lluviosa. Antes de caer las hojas se tornan amarillas en la copa del árbol. Florece y fructifica de febrero a mayo. Algunas especies de murciélagos se alimentan de los pedúnculos maduros de los frutos y ayudan en la dispersión de las semillas.

Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK anacoc Anacardium occidentale LK2 , pero A. occidentale es un árbol más pequeño y las hojas a veces son de color rojo. También se puede confundir con LK gustsu Gustavia superba LK2 , pero G. superba tiene hojas de mayor tamaño y con bordes dentados. LK camppa Campnosperma panamense LK2 tiene hojas muy parecidas, pero en C. panamense los frutos son drupas y la especie crece asociada a bosques pantanosos cercanos a las costas.

Usos: La madera es empleada en la fabricación de botes, remos, muebles ordinarios, formaletas, bateas, pilones y tableros de partículas. Las semillas tostadas al fuego son comestibles, pero sí se comen crudas resultan tóxicas debido a que contienen un aceite volátil llamado cardol. Los árboles de esta especie se pueden utilizar para reforestar y proteger los causes de los ríos.

Nuts contain anacardic acid and a caustic oil called cardol. They are poisonous before they are roasted (Blohm, 1962). Fruits are eaten by white-faced and howler monkeys (Hladik & Hladik, 1969) and by the bat Micronycteris hirsuta (Wilson, 1971).

Bocas Species Database

Habitat: Common in woods surrounding rivers, running along the riverside.   Characteristics: Tree that reaches from 20 to 40 m in height. Its leaves are simple and alternate, grouped in the terminal extremities of the branches. Flowers green or yellowish.