Hymenaea stigonocarpa

Hymenaea stigonocarpa, the jatobá-do-cerrado, is a medium-sized deciduous tree of the legume family (Fabaceae, subfamily Detarioideae) endemic to the Brazilian cerrado (savanna) of central Brazil. It typically grows 4-15 m tall, with a thick, deeply fissured, corky grey bark and a broad, irregular crown. The leaves are alternate and compound, each bearing a single pair of asymmetric, leathery, glossy leaflets with a curved, pointed tip, a distinctive trait of the genus. The fragrant flowers are whitish and borne in terminal clusters. The fruit is a large, hard, woody, oblong indehiscent pod with a thick rough shell, enclosing a few seeds surrounded by a dry, mealy, pale-yellow, sweet edible pulp that smells strongly and is eaten and made into flour. The tree exudes an amber to reddish aromatic resin from the trunk. It grows on the deep, well-drained sandy or lateritic soils of open cerrado and cerradão woodland, tolerating the fire, drought and seasonal climate of the region.