Copaiba

Copaifera langsdorffii, the diesel tree or copaiba, is a medium to large evergreen tree of the legume family native to the cerrado, gallery forests and seasonally dry forests of central South America, particularly Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and northern Argentina. It typically reaches 10-20 m in height, with a broad, spreading crown and rough, fissured grey bark. The alternate, pinnately compound leaves bear three to six pairs of asymmetric, ovate-elliptic, glossy leaflets 2-6 cm long, with translucent gland-dots visible against the light. Small, fragrant cream to pale-yellow flowers are borne in dense terminal panicles, attracting many bees. The fruit is a flattened, woody pod 2-3 cm long that splits to expose a single hard, dark seed partly enveloped by a bright yellow-orange fleshy aril, much sought by birds. Tapping the trunk yields the famous copaiba oleoresin, a clear yellow to amber aromatic fluid long valued in regional and international trade.