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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Hura crepitans say? It cracked under pressure.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Sandbox tree)

Hura crepitans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Hura
Species:
H. crepitans
Binomial name
Hura crepitans
Synonyms[1]
  • Hura brasiliensis Willd.
  • Hura crepitans var. genuina Müll.Arg.
  • Hura crepitans var. membranacea Müll.Arg.
  • Hura crepitans var. oblongifolia Müll.Arg.
  • Hura crepitans var. orbicularis Müll.Arg.
  • Hura crepitans var. ovata Müll.Arg.
  • Hura senegalensis Baill.
  • Hura strepens Willd.

Hura crepitans, known by the common names sandbox tree,[2] possumwood, monkey no-climb, assacu (from Tupi asaku), and jabillo,[3] is a species of evergreen tree in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to tropical regions of North and South America including the Amazon rainforest. It is naturalized in parts of Africa with sufficient rainfall.[4] It is also present in parts of Tanzania, where it is considered an invasive species.[5] Because its fruit explodes when ripe, it has also received the colloquial nickname "dynamite tree".[6][7]

Description

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The sandbox tree can grow to 60 metres (200 ft) in height,[8] and up to 13.2 metres (43 ft) in girth at 1.8 m (6 ft) above the ground;[9] its large ovate leaves grow to 60 cm (2 ft) long. The trees are monoecious, with red, un-petaled flowers. Male flowers grow on long spikes, while female flowers grow alone in leaf axils.

The fruit are large, pumpkin-shaped capsules, 3–5 cm (1–2 in) long, 5–8 cm (2–3 in) diameter, with 16 carpels arranged radially. Its seeds are flattened and about 2 cm (3⁄4 in) diameter. The capsules explode when ripe, splitting into segments and launching seeds at 70 m/s (250 km/h; 160 mph).[6] One source states that ripe capsules catapult their seeds as far as 100 m (330 ft).[10] Another source states that seeds are thrown as far as 45 m (150 ft) from a tree, most commonly 30 m (100 ft).[11] High-speed video analysis of its exploding fruit revealed that sandbox seeds fly with backspin[12] as opposed to topspin, which had been previously assumed.[8] Backspin helps seeds remain oriented to minimize their drag during flight.[13]

The trunk is covered in sharp spikes that grow to more than 1 inch (25 mm) long, and on mature trees may be so thick that the bases of the spines touch.[14] The sap is milky and contains toxins, including huratoxin. It has been traditionally used as a fish poison (piscicide), arrow poison, and in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments.[15]

Habitat

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This tree prefers wet soil and partial shade or partial to full sun. It is often cultivated for shade. Sandbox trees are tropical trees and prefer warmer, more humid environments.

Uses

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Its wood is light enough that indigenous people used it to make canoes.[16] Fishermen have been said to use the milky, caustic sap from this tree to poison fish.[17] The Caribs made arrow poison from its sap.[18] In Africa the trees have been planted to provide shade, but demand for the wood for making household goods has resulted in the loss of many trees.[4] The wood is used for furniture under the name "hura". In a time when most writing pens left wet ink on the page, the trees' unripe seed capsules were sawn in half to make decorative boxes (also called pounce pots) to hold the "sand" used to dry the ink, hence the name "sandbox tree".

Extracts from this species have also been documented in herbal remedies.[19] The seeds contain an oil that is toxic if ingested but can be made into biodiesel and soap; the starchy leftovers after extracting the oil from the seeds can be made into animal feed after cooking.[16]

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Hura crepitans L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "Hura crepitans". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Hura crepitans". The Encyclopedia of Life.
  4. 1 2 Kadiri & Adeniran 2016, p. 413.
  5. ↑ "Factsheet – Hura crepitans (Sandbox Tree)".
  6. 1 2 Vogel, Steven (March 2008). "The Flight of the Seed of Hura crepitans" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-08.
  7. ↑ Allard, H. A. (1950). "The Sandbox Tree and Its Armament". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 77 (6): 509–515. doi:10.2307/2482185. JSTOR 2482185.
  8. 1 2 Swain, M. D.; Beer, Tom (1977). "Explosive Seed Dispersal in Hura crepitans L. (Euphorbiaceae)". New Phytologist. 78 (3): 695–708. Bibcode:1977NewPh..78..695S. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1977.tb02174.x. JSTOR 2434538.
  9. ↑ Kingsley, Charles (17 August 1878). "At Last, Christmas in the West Indies". The Garden. 14 (3521): 53.
  10. ↑ Postlethwait, John H.; Hopson, Janet L. (2006). "Plant Reproduction". Modern Biology. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. p. 618. ISBN 978-0-03-065178-6.
  11. ↑ Swaine, M. D.; Beer, Tom (May 1977). "Explosive Seed Dispersal in Hura crepitans L. (Euphorbiaceae)". New Phytologist. 78 (3): 701–703. Bibcode:1977NewPh..78..695S. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1977.tb02174.x. ISSN 0028-646X.
  12. ↑ Ribera, Jesse; Desai, Aman; Whitaker, Dwight L (2020-08-17). "Putting a New Spin on the Flight of Jabillo Seeds". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 60 (4): 919–924. doi:10.1093/icb/icaa117. ISSN 1540-7063. PMID 32805037.
  13. ↑ Cooper, Eric S.; Mosher, Molly A.; Cross, Carolyn M.; Whitaker, Dwight L. (2018-03-07). "Gyroscopic stabilization minimizes drag on Ruellia ciliatiflora seeds". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 15 (140) 20170901. doi:10.1098/rsif.2017.0901. ISSN 1742-5689. PMC 5908531. PMID 29514987.
  14. ↑ Allard, H. A. (1950). "The Sandbox Tree and Its Armament". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 77 (6): 509. doi:10.2307/2482185. ISSN 0040-9618.
  15. ↑ Vassallo, Antonio (2022), Nanotechnological exploitation of the antioxidant potential of Hura crepitans L. extract, retrieved 2026-07-19
  16. 1 2 Cruz, Eniel David; Martinez, Gladys Beatriz (December 2018). "Germinação de sementes de espécies amazônicas: assacu (Hura crepitans L.)". Comunicado Técnico (in Portuguese). 302. Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation: 2–3.
  17. ↑ Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 3 (1948). Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 19 February 2019 – via biodiversitylibrary.org.
  18. ↑ Jones, David E (2007). Poison Arrows: North American Indian Hunting and Warfare. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71428-1.
  19. ↑ "Hura Brasiliensis. From Materia Medica by John Henry Clarke. Homeopathy".

Sources

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