Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg.

Gumbo limbo, copperwood, chaca, turpentine tree

About plant names...

Gumbo limbo (often hyphenated) is native to the tropical regions of the Americas, including the southeastern United States. This tree is sometimes nicknamed the tourist tree, because its peeling, reddish bark resembles sunburned tourists.

Plants: 20-66' (6-20 m) tall, with a single trunk up to 3' (1 m) in diameter, and large, irregular branches. Its crown is about the same size around. Bark is smooth, peeling in thin layers that roll up on themselves. Outer bark is coppery red in color, while exposed new bark is whitish or silvery gray. It is resinous, and has an odor like turpentine.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, 6-8" (15-20 cm) × 4-6" (10-15 cm), on a stem (petiole) 1-3" (3-8 cm) long. Leaflets are broadly ovate, 1½-2½" (4-7 cm) × ¾-1¾" (2-5 cm), and asymmetric.

Flowers: Inconspicuous racemes of flowers with 3-5 green­ish or cream-colored petals.

Fruits: Dark red, elliptic in shape, three-valved, about ½-1" (1.3-2.5 cm) long.

Online References:

Floridata.com

Hort.ifas.ufl.edu

Wikipedia

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The University of Florida IFAS Extension

References:

Nelson, Gil; Earle, Christopher J.; Spellenberg, Richard; More, David (Illus.); Hughes, Amy K. (Ed.), Trees of Eastern North America, Princeton University Press, 2014, p. 178

4/10/2015 · Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida
≈ 6½ × 4' (2.0 × 1.3 m)

4/15/2015 · Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge Marsh Trail, Florida
≈ 27 × 18" (69 × 46 cm) ID is uncertain

4/13/2015 · Mahogany Hammock Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida · By Susan M. Kent
≈ 4 × 6½' (1.3 × 2.0 m)

Bursera simaruba description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

4/13/2015 · Mahogany Hammock Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida · By Susan M. Kent
≈ 3 × 4½' (97 × 146 cm)

4/14/2015 · Pinelands, Everglades National Park, Florida
≈ 12 × 19" (31 × 47 cm) ID is uncertain

4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 15 cm)

4/13/2015 · Mahogany Hammock Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida
≈ 12 × 19" (31 × 47 cm)

4/10/2015 · Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm)

4/15/2015 · Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge Marsh Trail, Florida
≈ 10 × 8" (26 × 20 cm) ID is uncertain

Range: Zones 9b-11:

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