Alfaroa guanacastensis
Encyclopedia
Alfaroa guanacastensis is a species of plant
in the Juglandaceae
family, first described from material found in the vicinity of Guanacaste, Costa Rica
. It is known to flourish at altitudes from 2400 to 3700 feet.
The trees grow to 90 feet tall with a DBH
of up to 2 feet. The lower trunk often has buttresses. The sapwood is white, and the heartwood is pink. The pith is solid.
The opposite leaves are pinnately
compound, with opposite to sub-opposite leaflets.
The tree is monoecious. The staminate inflorescences are panicles consisting of several erect catkins. The pistalate inflorescence is a terminal spike, which may be separate from the staminate inflorescence, or may be part of an androgynous panicle. The staminate inflorescences have an odor compared to the gardenia.
The fruit is an oval nut, twice as long as wide, with a bitter meat. Germination is hypogeal
; the first two arial leaves are simple and opposite.
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
in the Juglandaceae
Juglandaceae
The Juglandaceae, also known as the Walnut Family, is a family of trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Various members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia....
family, first described from material found in the vicinity of Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. It is known to flourish at altitudes from 2400 to 3700 feet.
The trees grow to 90 feet tall with a DBH
Diameter at breast height
Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements....
of up to 2 feet. The lower trunk often has buttresses. The sapwood is white, and the heartwood is pink. The pith is solid.
The opposite leaves are pinnately
Pinnate
Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning "feather", "wing", or "fin". A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts...
compound, with opposite to sub-opposite leaflets.
The tree is monoecious. The staminate inflorescences are panicles consisting of several erect catkins. The pistalate inflorescence is a terminal spike, which may be separate from the staminate inflorescence, or may be part of an androgynous panicle. The staminate inflorescences have an odor compared to the gardenia.
The fruit is an oval nut, twice as long as wide, with a bitter meat. Germination is hypogeal
Hypogeal
Hypogeal means "underground".* In botany, a seed is described as hypogeal when the cotyledons of the germinating seed remain non-photosynthetic, inside the seed shell, and below ground...
; the first two arial leaves are simple and opposite.