Manilkara excisa
Encyclopedia
Manilkara excisa is an endangered species of tall tree
in the Sapodilla family
. It is endemic to the extremely steep, forested limestone
hills of Trelawny, Cockpit Country
and St. James parishes in Jamaica
, where, although it is highly prized for its wood, it is threatened by habitat loss.
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
in the Sapodilla family
Sapotaceae
Sapotaceae is a family of flowering plants, belonging to order Ericales. The family includes approximately 800 species of evergreen trees and shrubs in approximately 65 genera . Distribution is pantropical....
. It is endemic to the extremely steep, forested limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
hills of Trelawny, Cockpit Country
Cockpit Country
Cockpit Country is an area in Jamaica which provided a natural defensive area used by Maroons to establish communities outside the control of Spanish or British colonialists....
and St. James parishes in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, where, although it is highly prized for its wood, it is threatened by habitat loss.