Giant
Panama Tree
Sterculia apetala (Jacq.) H.Karst.
Southern Mexico to Brazil
Fun factSterculia apetala is the national tree of Panama; the country's dry-forest trees can be seen at Costa Rica's Horizontes experimental forest station, where this species is planted along a 1.5 km arboretum trail.
The Panama tree is a very large, buttressed tree of the mallow family and the national tree of Panama, from which it takes its common name. It has a tall trunk with narrow, well-developed buttresses that are taller than they are wide, purple flowers with a soft, pleasant scent, and large, glossy brown, ellipsoid fruits. It is widely planted in the tropics as a shade tree, for its edible seeds and as a honey plant.
Sourced · see Record tab
2on the estate
2carrying a tag
2sponsored
FamilyMalvaceae
Spanish namePanamá
Also known asChicha, Panamá, Bellota, Chicha, Sunsún
Native toSouthern Mexico and Central America, including Costa Rica, to Peru, Brazil and Bolivia, and to Trinidad and Tobago
| Tag | Garden area | Zone | Planted | Status | Sponsored | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 212 | Jungle Boardwalk | B | 17 June 2016 | Healthy | Bri-ann L., USA | |
| 213 | Jungle Boardwalk | B | 17 June 2016 | Healthy | Bri-ann L., USA |
0 of these have no tag yet; they will be numbered when the garden team re-tags the estate.