Swietenia
Swietenia subsp. var. | Mahogany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
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Swietenia (named for Gerard van Swieten, 1700-1772). Meliaceae. Trees, sometimes grown in the warmhouse, one of them yielding the mahogany of commerce: lvs. even-pinnate, very glabrous; lfts. opposite, petioled, obliquely ovate, long-acuminate: fls. small, in axillary or subterminal panicles; calyx small, 5-cleft; petals 5, spreading; staminal tube urn-shaped, 10-toothed, anthers 10; disk annular; ovary sessile, ovoid, 5-celled: caps. 5-celled, about 3 in. diam.—Three species, Trop. Amer. Intro. into S. U. S. S. Chloroxylon. Roxbg.-Chloroxylon Swietenia. CH
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Cultivation
Propagation
Pests and diseases
Species
The three species are poorly defined biologically, in part because they hybridize freely when grown in proximity.
- 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. Southern Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola.
Gallery
References
External links
- w:Swietenia. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- Swietenia QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)