Region: northern S. America, northern Brazil, Venezuela, Guyanas, Surinam.
Habitat: marsh forests; light, sandy soils; lowland savannah forests; sunny position; drought tolerant.
Content: polyphenol bergenine; isolongifolenone, repellent of mosquitoes and ticks; red, balsamic oleoresin.
Use: fruit, medicines; wood for heavy construction, flooring, furniture, wheel spokes, decorative veneer; fruit for alcoholic beverage; balsam in fragrances, cosmetics, perfumes, hair oil, space sprays, detergents, deodorants, fabrics, fibres, paper products; repellent of mosquitoes and ticks.
BotanyEvergreen tree; heavy, rounded crown; 25 - 36 metres tall, sometimes shrub-like; moderate rate of growth.
Stem: long, cylindrical; free of buttresses; unbranched for up to 20 metres; 50 - 70cm, up to 120cm in diameter; heartwood light brown to reddish brown, poorly demarcated from the 4 - 5 cm wide band of light brown sapwood, texture is medium, grain straight to slightly interlocked, lustre medium, without distinctive odour or taste; wood is heavy, hard, compact, very durable, even to white-rot and brown-rot fungus; resistant to dry-wood termites, but has little resistance to marine borers.