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Gumbo Limbo
Bursera simaruba
{Species
Archive Index}
photo by © Annisa Karim
Height- up to 80'
Characteristics- Tropical Caribbean
species, naturalized in south Florida
Leaves: compound with 5-9 ovate leaflets
Bark: Brownish red, usually peeling like thin sheets of paper
Flowers: tiny creamy white to greenish, found in clusters from Feb. to April
Fruit: small (1/4-3/8 in.), reddish
Status- common coastal and urban tree in south Florida
Distribution- found from coastal central
Florida to the Bahamas, West Indies,
Central America to northern South America.
Habitat - coastal uplands, hammocks
Fun facts - probably brought to Florida as
seeds in bird droppings (=guano),
- possibly introduced by Spaniards for its medicinal
value.
- has many common names including "tourist tree" (because it is red and peeling,
like tourists)
and "slave’s birdlime" (slaves supposedly boiled the sap and spread
it on tree branches to trap song birds).
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