The Tree

Costa Rica’s National Tree is known also as Elephant Ear Tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) with white flowers grouped in small and spherical inflorescences. The name of the tree comes from the Aztec language, quaitil = tree and nacaztli = ear, in other words, the tree of ears or ear tree.

Photo of Guanacaste Tree, National tree of Costa Rica

The Guanacaste Tree extends its branches like a giant umbrella giving an excellent shade that may exceed a 10 meter diameter. This tree can grow to a height of 30 meters and its trunk can reach a diameter of 2.5 meters.  The Guanacaste Tree loses its leaves during the dry season.

Guanacaste Tree Leafs

Dispersion:

The seeds of the Guanacaste tree are dispersed mostly by mammals that eat the fruit from this tree and as they move through different areas it is left at the time they lay their feces on the ground.

Pollination:

The flower is pollinated mostly by bees, wasps and other insects.

Germination:

The seeds have a very hard cover, they need a mechanical process to germinate or to be eaten by an animal, passing out unharmed in waste and geminating where they fall.  Another option to make the seeds germinate is putting them in water for a while.

Geographical Distribution in Latin America:

It may be found all the way from Mexico to Colombia.  In Costa Rica it is mainly found on the lowlands of Guanacaste and in some areas like La Garita of Alajuela, Orotina of Puntarenas as well as in Palmar Norte and Palmar Sur in the Osa Peninsula.

Ecological Importance:

Its fruits are of great importance for the local fauna and its shade is also very important specially for the cattle in Guanacaste.

Guanacaste Tree Seed

…See also: Costa Rica Trees
…See also: Costa Rica Medicinal Plants