Useful trees of the Caribbean region of Colombia

JIMÉNEZ ESCOBAR, NÉSTOR DAVID; ESTUPIÑÁN-GONZALEZ, A. CRISTINA

Bioremediation, Biodiversity and Bioavailability

global science books

Año: 2011 vol. 5 p. 65 - 79

1749-0596

Information was compiled on the uses and common names of trees among rural communities of the Caribbean Region of Colombia. Eleven field trips were made in the departments of Atlántico, Cesar, Córdoba and La Guajira, and 133 people interviewed. Ethnobotanical information from the region was also compiled from literature sources and from specimens in the National Colombian Herbarium (COL). The departments with the greatest number of uses and/or common names were Córdoba (368) and Cesar (329), with the most of the information coming from herbarium specimens and published qualitative ethnobotanical studies. Information was compiled for a total of329 useful tree species, in 231 genera and 59 families, associated with 608 common names. The family Fabaceae was represented by the greatest number of species (68) followed by Arecaceae (28), Rubiaceae (15) and Euphorbiaceae (13). A total of 49 different uses were recorded across 12 categories with the category Construction presenting the greatest number of species (216), followed by Food (93), Medicinal (79) and Firewood (68). The parts of the tree most commonly used were trunk/stem (245 species), fruits (101) and live plant (78). The species with the greatest number of uses were guásimo, Guazuma ulmifolia (12), resbalamono, Bursera simaruba (12), and jobo, Spondias mombin (11). Based on the information compiled in this study, the native species with greatest economic potential are proposed for more detailed studies so that they can be incorporated into plans for management, conservation and economic development of the region.