Amarillo heist ins Deutsche übersetzt “geld” Jedes Jahr im
März und April zeigt er eindrucksvoll warum!
OccurrenceThe region of origin extendsfrom southern Mexico to
theAmazon Basin of Brazil and Peru.The zapatero tree grows in
tro-pical humid to very humid areasup to 900 m above sea level
andprefers loamy-sandy soils, butalso tolerates acidic and
nu-trient-poor soils.
SignificanceThe zapatero tree is one of themost resistant and
hardest pre-cious woods in Central America.Due to its resistance to
salt waterand high density, this wood isparticularly popular in
shipbuil-ding.
ThreatsThe tree is not endangered. Thewood is resistant to pests
suchas termites and rot in damp soil.
At ForestFinanceThe zapatero tree, also calledshoemaker’s tree,
grows on our fincas in Panama in the regionsof Veraguas, Chiriquí,
Panamaand Darién.
ZapateroFAMILY PHYLLANTHACEAE GENUS HIERONYMASPECIES HIERONYMA
ALCHORNEOIDES
max. 45 metres
max. 1.7 metres
CharacteristicsLeaves
Shortly before the green leaves fall to the
ground they turn bright red.
Bark
The grey-brown bark is longitudinally
cracked and peels off in thin layers. The
inside is light pink to red.
Fruits
The 3-5 mm long, thin indehiscent fruits
are particularly popular with monkeys
and birds. The pulp of the green fruit
turns purple during ripening. The fruits
usually contain a small dark brown
round seed.
Flowers
The panicled flowers are about 5 cm
long. The delicate single green-white flo-
wers are hardly visible on the tree.
Zapatero
Description of woodThe sapwood has a light reddish colour.
Theheartwood is reddish-brown with a tendencyto copper. Due to its
high density, the wood isrelatively hard and can be used in many
ways.The tannin of the wood is used for the pro-duction of colour
pigments and also in leatherprocessing.
ZapateroFAMILY PHYLLANTHACEAE GENUS HIERONYMASPECIES HIERONYMA
ALCHORNEOIDES
Zapatero
DENSITY0.77 g/cm3
JANKA HARDNESS1700 lbf
ProcessingThe processing of the wood requires good ma-chines and
some skill. In addition to shipbuil-ding, the wood is used for
supporting structuresand railway sleepers due to its hardness and
high
density.
UseIn craftsmanship, the zapatero wood is appre-ciated for
precision and turning work. Zapaterowood is used for ballpoint pens
for example.
SeedlingsThe seedlings are tended to in tree nurseries un-til
they can be transplanted. The young leavesare particularly popular
with leaf-cutting ants,which is why the seedlings require special
care to
protect them.
Zapatero is Spa-nish for shoema-ker. The tree isfurther known
aspilón, pantano orshoemaker’s tree.It is sold under thecommercial
namebully tree wood.
