Description: An alien tree, tall with a straight trunk. Leaves are very large and broad, opposite. On saplings, there are no branches, and the leaves are in a column along the side of the stem.
Reproduction: Teak are completely deciduous, losing all their leaves for much of the dry season. Flowers are small, white, in large clusters above the leaves during the wet season. Fruits are small capsules in the same clusters.
Distribution: Widely planted in plantation throughout the world's tropics, and there are a few plantations in the Panama Canal area, an especially large one near Las Pavas south of Barro Colorado. But the tree also appears in towns and farmland throughout the area, sometimes singly.
Similar Species: The opposite leaves that are very large and nearly as broad as they are long are distinctive in open areas where teak grows. The LK ochrpy balsa LK2 also has large, wide leaves, but they are alternate.
Uses: Fast-growing and productive in plantation, with high quality wood that is very resistant to rot, this species is one of the most valuable timber species in the world. Grows well at least in the drier half of the isthmus, and there is consistent market for the wood.