Simarouba is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Simaroubaceae, native to the neotropics. It has been grouped in the subtribe Simaroubina along with the Simaba and Quassia genera. They have compound leaves, with between 1 and 12 pairs of alternate pinnate leaflets. Their flowers are unisexual, relatively small (around 1 cm long) and arranged in large panicles. Plants are dioecious, bearing only male or female flowers.[2] The individual flowers have between 4 and 6 sepals and petals and between 8 and 12 stamens. The fruit is a carpophore and has up to 5 drupaceous mericarps.
In 1944, Adolf Engler and Arthur Cronquist separated the species in the genus,[3] based mainly on the morphology of their flowers, but also using differences in their leaf structure. S. amara, S. glauca and S. versicolor are continental tree species and are often confused with each other, particularly in areas where more than one species is present in the flora. S. amara can be distinguished by having smaller flowers and anthers than S. glauca and S. versicolor and by it having straight, rather than curved petals; its fruit are also smaller. S. glauca can be distinguished by the lack of trichomes on its leaves compared with those of S. versicolor, which has dense tomentose leaves. S. versicolor has a greater variation in flower size than S. glauca and the leaf veins of S. glauca are generally more evident than those of S. versicolor. Geographically, S. glauca and S. versicolor are easy to distinguish since the southerly range of S. glauca is limited to Panama, whereas S. versicolor is only found in South America.[3][4] A phylogenetic analysis in 1995 based on the large sub-unit of rubisco suggested that Simarouba was most closely related to the Leitneria and Ailanthus genera,[5] but a later study in 2007, based on three chloroplastic genes and one nuclear gene,[6] found it was most closely related to Pierreodendron and Simaba.[7]
Structure
S. amara
S. glauca
S. versicolor
Flower
3–5 mm long
4–7.5 mm long
4–7.5 mm long
Anthers
0.4–1.2 mm long
1.3–2.0 mm long
1.0–1.5 mm long
Petals
Straight, dull yellow-green to white
Curved, brighter yellow with a touch of orange or red
Curved
Fruits
1.0–1.5 x 0.6–1.0 cm
2.0–2.5 x 1.2–1.5 cm
2.0–2.5 x 1.5–2.0 cm
Inflorescence of Simarouba tulae
S. berteroana, S. laevis and S. tulae are endemic to the Caribbean islands.[4]
^Simarouba Aubl. in Hist. Pl. Guiane: 859 (1775), nom. cons.
^Clayton, Joshua William (2008). Evolutionary history of Simaroubaceae (Sapindales): Systematics, biogeography and diversification (PhD). University of Florida.
^ abCronquist, A. (1944). "Studies in the Simaroubaceae-II. The Genus Simarouba". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 71 (3): 226–234. doi:10.2307/2481702. JSTOR 2481702.
^ abFranceschinelli, E. V.; Yamamoto, K.; Shepherd, G. J. (1998). "Distinctions among Three Simarouba Species". Systematic Botany. 23 (4): 479–488. doi:10.2307/2419379. JSTOR 2419379.
^Fernando, E. S.; Gadek, P. A.; Quinn, C. J. (1995). "Simaroubaceae, an Artificial Construct: Evidence from rbcL Sequence Variation". American Journal of Botany. 82 (1): 92–103. doi:10.2307/2445791. JSTOR 2445791.
^Clayton, J.W.; Fernando, E.S.; Soltis, P.S.; Soltis, D.E. (2007). "Molecular phylogeny of the Tree-of-Heaven family (Simaroubaceae) based on chloroplast and nuclear markers". Int. J. Plant Sci. 168: 1325–1339.
^Klaus Kubitzki (29 January 2011). Flowering Plants. Eudicots: Sapindales, Cucurbitales, Myrtaceae. Springer. p. 413. ISBN 978-3-642-14396-0. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
Simarouba glauca is a flowering tree that is native to Florida, South America, and the Caribbean. Common names include paradise-tree, dysentery-bark,...
Simarouba is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Simaroubaceae, native to the neotropics. It has been grouped in the subtribe Simaroubina along...
Simarouba amara is a species of tree in the family Simaroubaceae, found in the rainforests and savannahs of South and Central America and the Caribbean...
wildlands. Well-known genera in the family include the tropical Quassia and Simarouba. 20 genera are accepted: Ailanthus Desf. †Ailanthophyllum Dawson Brucea...
(Pierre) Engl., Pierreodendron Engl., Samadera Gaertn., Simaba Aubl. and Simarouba Aubl. . Then in 2007, DNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses was carried...
habitat of its original larval host plants: the paradise tree (Simarouba glauca) and Simarouba amara. Another tree called tree-of-heaven, (Ailanthus altissima)...
known only from Costa Rica and Panama. The larvae feed on shoot tips of Simarouba amara saplings and adult trees. It is more abundant than Atteva pustulella...
Jamaica, Haiti and Martinique. The larvae feed only on new shoots of Simarouba amara. There are records for Ailanthus altissima in Argentina (Berg 1880)...
damson" or "bitter damson" was also formerly applied in Jamaica to the tree Simarouba amara. The name damson comes from Middle English damascene, damesene,...
valuable seeds, sarsparilla, guaiacum, ipecacuanha, cacao, vanilla and simarouba. After returning to Quito on 20 June 1737, he found that Godin refused...
feed on the sap of plants, mainly from some trees as Hymenaea courbaril, Simarouba amara and Zanthoxylum species. It will generally remain camouflaged on...
succulent leaves Brassicales — Simaroubaceae (tree-of-heaven family) Simarouba, from a Carib plant name 20 genera, in the tropics, with some temperate...
ferrea, is used in India as a lamp oil. Paradise oil, from the seeds of Simarouba glauca, has received interest in India as a feed stock for biodiesel....
Setchellanthus P William Albert Setchell (1864–1943) Brassicales Bu Simaroubaceae Simarouba – Carib plant name Sapindales Simmondsiaceae Simmondsia P Thomas William...
Glaucarubin is a quassinoid derived from the tropical shrub, Simarouba glauca. It is used as an antiamoebic agent. Glaucarubin is a bitter lactone found...
(Pierre) Engl., Pierreodendron Engl., Samadera Gaertn., Simaba Aubl. and Simarouba Aubl. . In 2007, DNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analyses was carried...
of plants and may refer to: Alstonia constricta, an Australian shrub Simarouba amara, a neotropical tree Petalostigma triloculare, the long leaved bitter...
process on their heads. They feed on the sap of trees, most commonly Simarouba amara, and they excrete honeydew out of their anuses. Several other animals...
(Pierre) Engl., Pierreodendron Engl., Samadera Gaertn., Simaba Aubl. and Simarouba Aubl. In 2007, molecular analyses of the Simaroubaceae family (Clayton...
Picrasma of South & South-East Asia and the Caribbean, e.g. Picrasma excelsa Simarouba glauca, native to Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America Quassia...
Guyana, México and Suriname. A host plant of this species is the tree Simarouba amara. L. lanata was witnessed gathering in a group on this tree at a...
Engl., Pierreodendron Engl., Samadera Gaertn., Simaba Aubl. and also Simarouba Aubl. In 2007, molecular analyses of the Simaroubaceae family (Clayton...
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