Swietenia humilis
| Swietenia humilis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Meliaceae |
| Genus: | Swietenia |
| Species: | S. humilis |
| Binomial name | |
| Swietenia humilis Zuccarini | |
Swietenia humilis is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. It is one of three species in the genus Swietenia, the true mahoganies. At 6 meters, it is one-fifth the height of S. mahagoni and one-sixth the height of S. macrophylla. Its species name, humilis, means "small" or "dwarfish".
Common names include Pacific Coast mahogany, caoba del Pacifico, caoba del Honduras, caobilla, cobano, gateado, sopilocuahuilt, and zapaton. In the wood trades it is known as Honduras mahogany and Mexican mahogany.
Distribution and habitat
The area of natural distribution is the drier zones of the western Sierra Madre mountain range from Mexico through Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The distribution in Guatemala and Honduras bulges eastward from the Pacific Coast nearly to the Atlantic Ocean. In Honduras it also extends from the western Sierra Madre into the abutting northern Nicaraguan cordillera range. The northern half of the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica includes habitat. It is found at altitudes up to 1,200 m. (4,000 feet). Its habitat is dry deciduous forest, savanna, rough scrub, rocky hillsides and cultivated fields. Today, trees usually are seen as scattered and isolated individuals. Large specimens are rare.
International Legal Protection
The multilateral treaty CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) lists S. humilis in Appendix II (all parts and derivatives except seeds). Also it is categorized in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species as Vulnerable (Version 2011.2).
Biologically Active Compounds
Poison
The bark and seeds possess a stringent alkaloid reputed to be very poisonous. The extracts significantly inhibited the growth and feeding of third instar larvae of Tenebrio molitor (mealworms).
Medicine
The seeds of S. humilis are used in traditional medicine to treat chest pains, coughs, cancer and amoebiasis, and for their anthelmintic properties. Pharmacological studies of the seeds and bark have been ongoing since the 1990s.
References
- Zuccarini, Joseph Gerhard. Abh. Akad. Muench. ii (1831–36) 355.t.7.
- Pennington, T.D. and Sarukhan J. Arboles Tropicales de Mexico. 1988.
- Janzen, Daniel H. et al. Costa Rican Natural History. U of Chicago Press. 1983. pp. 331–333.
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. Swietenia humilis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 August 2007.
- http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/north_america_map2.htm (a relief map of North America including Mexico. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua are a miniaturized extension).
- CITES: Appendix II
- IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. A1cd Version 2011.1.
- Journal of Natural Products. Vol. 56, No.9, pp 1567–1574. Septembher 1993.