Scientific Name: Schizolobium parahyba
Botanical Family: Fabaceae-Caesalpinaceae
Common Name: Gallinazo
Covered beautifully with a blanket of bright yellow flowers, throughout the forests of the Naranjo River Biological Corridor and the central Pacific, we will find our tree of the month of February known as the Gallinazo.
This species is found primarily in areas of secondary forest, scrub areas, and as shade trees in pastures. It is a tree of large size, which can reach up to heights of 40 meters and diameters of 1 meter, with a cylindrical straight trunk. At the base of the trunk of this enormous tree, we find its buttress roots or gambas, which are structures it develops for support and stability. Its leaves are compound, alternate and exude a fragrance similar to beans which indicates to us that it is a member of the leguminosa family.
The abundance of this species and its majestic flowering, which occurs in almost perfect synchrony as the trees begin their flowering cycle in the months of January and February, thus transforms our forests into a beautiful spectacle impossible not to appreciate, with large patches of yellow painting the countryside.
The Gallinazo is distributed throughout the Central and South Pacific and the Atlantic coast of our country from sea level up to 900 meters altitude.
