Swietenia

See text

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Swietenia is a genus of trees in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It occurs in the Neotropics, from southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America south to Bolivia. It is usually taken to consist of three species, geographically separated. They are medium-sized to large trees growing to 20-45 m tall, and up to 2 m trunk diameter. The leaves are 10-30 cm long, pinnate, with 3-6 pairs of leaflets, the terminal leaflet absent; each leaflet is 5-15 cm long. The leaves are deciduous to semi-evergreen, falling shortly before the new foliage grows. The flowers are produced in loose inflorescences, each flower small, with five white to greenish-yellowish petals. The fruit is a pear-shaped five-valved capsule 8-20 cm long, containing numerous winged seeds about 5-9 cm long.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

;Species

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Swietenia humilis - Pacific Coast Mahogany. Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico.
• Swietenia macrophylla - Honduras Mahogany. Atlantic coast of Central America, South America south to Bolivia.
• Swietenia mahagoni - West Indian Mahogany. Caribbean, southern Florida.
Swietenia: Uses ►



 

Neotropics: The neotropics are the tropical regions of the New World, that is the Americas. This biogeographical area is bordered in the north by the dry areas in Mexico and the southern states of the USA. Southern Florida is part of the neotropics....

Florida: Florida is a Southern state in the United States. It is known as the Sunshine State. "Florida" is a Spanish adjective which means "flowery." It was discovered by Spanish explorers during the Easter season, which is called Pascua Florida in Spanish. The U.S. Postal abbreviation is FL....

Caribbean: The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of countries and islands in the Caribbean Sea. These countries or islands are located from the southeastern areas of Mexico to the northwest of Venezuela in South America. There are at least 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cayes in the region. They are ...