Description: A tall canopy tree with a straight cyclindrical trunk that is only slightly swollen at the base. The bark is dark gray, but peels off in pieces revealing large, light-colored circles of inner bark. Leaves are alternate, compound, with 11-15 leaflets, including a terminal one (imparipinnate). Leaflet pairs are mostly opposite one another, but toward the base of the leaf, they are slightly alternate. Leaflets are pointed at the tip and toothed, slightly assymetric at the base. The secondary veins branch near the leaf border, forming a very clear 'Y'. The petiole is swollen at the base. Crushed leaves have a clear turpentine-like smell.

Reproduction: Some individuals of this species drop all their leaves toward the end of dry season, and most drop some leaves. Prior to falling, leaves are bright red, and even in the middle of the wet season, there are typically a few red leaves in the crown. Small, greenish-yellow flowers are produced in February and March. The fruit is a berry, with 5 wings on top that are the remnants of the flower.

Distribution: Common in mature and secondary forest on the Pacific slope, where it is one of the major canopy species. Less common at Soberania and on Barro Colorado Island. Occurs occasionally in farmland in the drier parts of Panama, but not typically seen at forest edge or towns of the Canal area.

Uses: The wood is high quality and widely used for tools, furniture, carpintry. The species ought to be used more in plantation forestry, since it grows well in the dry parts of Panama.

Descripción: Árbol de 10 a 30 m de alto. Tronco con raíces tablares en la base. Corteza exterior gris o negra y exfoliante en láminas irregulares. Hojas imparipinnadas y alternas, con 9-15 folíolos, opuestos en el extremo apical del raquis y subopuestos hacia la base. Folíolos de 5-9 x 2-3 cm, oblongos o lanceolados, con ápice acuminado, bordes dentados y base redondeada o desigual. Los folíolos jóvenes presentan un agradable olor a resina al estrujarlos. Pecíolo de 3-7 cm de largo y pulvinado en la base. La especie es dioica. Flores verdes o amarillentas. Frutos de 1-1.5 cm de largo y con cinco alas, formadas por los sépalos persistentes del cáliz, verdes, tornándose negros al madurar.

Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas y medianas elevaciones, en bosques secos o húmedos. En Panamá se encuentra en las provincias de Chiriquí, Coclé, Colón, Darién, Herrera, Los Santos, Panamá y Veraguas. Deja caer sus hojas durante la estación seca, pero las repone a inicios de la estación lluviosa. Antes de caer los folíolos se tornan anaranjados o amarillentos en la copa del árbol. Es una especie heliofita que prefiere lugares abiertos y soleados en terrenos planos, altos y bien drenados, pero también se adapta a suelos rocosos y mal drenados. Florece y fructifica de febrero a junio.

Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK sponmo Spondias mombin LK2 y LK sponra Spondias radlkoferi LK2 , pero en S. mombin y S. radlkoferi los frutos son drupas globosas a oblongas, y en A. graveolens el fruto es alado. Algunas especies de Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae) también tienen hojas parecidas, pero en Zanthoxylum el tronco tiene espinas cónicas y los folíolos presentan puntos translúcidos.

Usos: La madera es empleada para fabricar muebles, gabinetes, entarimados, cuchillería, mangos de herramientas, pulpa para papel, tornos, arcos y en la carpintería de interiores y exteriores.

Dioecious tree, to 35 m tall and 80 (100) cm dbh; outer bark lenticellate, peeling off in small, +/- round patches leaving irregular shallow depressions; inner bark yellowish, granular, thick. Leaves imparipinnate, alternate; rachis and petiole 20-35 cm long; leaflets (2) 9-15, mostly opposite; petiolules to 6 mm long; blades lanceolate-oblong to elliptic, bluntly acuminate, acute to rounded and sometimes inequilateral at base, 4-14 cm long, 2-7 cm wide, glabrous or pubescent especially on veins below. Panicles terminal, to 25 cm long; pedicels 1-3 mm long (much longer in fruit), articulate; flowers unisexual, ca 2 mm long, 5-parted, yellowish-green; sepals ovate to elliptic, minute, enlarging to 1.5 cm and persisting as fruit matures; petals to 3 mm long, +/- elliptic; staminate flowers with 5 stamens to 3 mm long; pistillode lacking; pistillate flowers with the styles 3, ca 1 mm long, persistent or deciduous; stigmas small, disciform; ovary ovoid-oblong, with a single subapical ovule; staminodia reduced. Drupes narrowly oblong, 1-1.5 cm long, subterete. Croat 13492. A few individuals are known in the old forest; seedlings, however, are rather common. Plants lose their leaves for a short time just before flowering, and new leaves appear with the flowers in the late dry season. The fruits develop quickly and are dispersed in the late dry and early rainy seasons. In Mexico, the fruits mature from April to June (Pennington & Sarukhan, 1968).