Agroforestree Database

Local names:
 Dutch (groenhart), English (yellow poui,trumpet flower tree,noib wood,May-flower,greenheart,bethabara,bastard lignum-vitae,arewood), Portuguese (pau d’Arco,ipe tobaco,ipe)

Tabebuia serratifolia is a large, deciduous tree, up to 37 m high and 3 m in trunk diameter, that will square 30 cm of heartwood. Trunk usually straight and frequently buttressed.

Flowers profuse, clear yellow, borne at intervals during the dry season.

Fruit a linear dehiscent capsule containing many winged seeds.

The generic name is after its Brazilian local name. The specific epithet means serrate leaved.

Ecology

The species is widely distributed in tropical South America from Bolivia and Brazil to Colombia and Trinidad, particularly the Guyana and Trinidad, where it is widely distributed in the north of the island in climax evergreen forest. It forms pure stands in some areas but prefers the sides and tops of ridges to swampy ground.

Native range
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (US)

Seeds do not retain viability for long periods in storage. Storage in seed flasks at 10 deg. C have maintained seed viability the longest.

The species is widely distributed in tropical South America from Bolivia and Brazil to Colombia and Trinidad, particularly the Guyana and Trinidad, where it is widely distributed in the north of the island in climax evergreen forest. It forms pure stands in some areas but prefers the sides and tops of ridges to swampy ground.

Germinating capacity is maintained for a very short time.

Timber: Heartwood of freshly cut wood is yellowish-green and the sapwood, which is 1.2-8.8 cm wide, is cream coloured. The dry heartwood is light to dark olive-brown, often with lighter or darker streaks. The dry sapwood is white or greyish-white. The grain is straight to very irregular. T. serratifolia dries rapidly during air seasoning in spite of its high density, and the wood is rated easy to season. Timber very hard, heavy, strong and very durable; used for sleepers, house posts, bridge building. The wood is reputed to be highly resistant to decay.