Oxandra lanceolata

(Sw.) Baill.

Haya prieta, Lancewood

AnnonaceaeFruit

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Fruit - . The fruit is composed of 1 - 4, maroon to black, ellipsoid to obovoid monocarps, each around 8 - 15mm long and 5 - 12mm wide.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in dry thickets and deciduous forests.

Caribbean, Colombia, Cuba*, Dominican Republic, Haiti*, Jamaica*, Mexico, Puerto Rico, West Indies*,

Countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, St Vincent

How to Identify

A tree. It grows 15 m tall. The trunk is 10-30 cm across. The leaves are narrowly oval and 4-9 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. There are 1-4 fruit in a group. They are green and turn dark red to black as they ripen.

How to Grow

Succeeds in calcium-rich soils. Plants can flower and produce fruit all year round.

Propagation: Seed.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Other Uses

The wood is light yellow and composed entirely of sapwood, with a very fine texture, straight grain, and medium lustre, and has no distinctive odour or taste. It is very strong, extremely hard, elastic, and durable. Although moderately difficult to work due to its high density, it finishes smoothly and is excellent for turnery. Considered equal to boxwood in hardness, it is used for fishing rods, billiard cues, archery bows, turned articles, masts, textile machinery, and small tool handles.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Oxandra lanceolata, also known as lancewood in English and chilcahuite in Spanish, is a species of plant in the Annonaceae family. It occurs naturally in Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It is an evergreen tree growing up to 15 metres high. Its leaves are 3.5–9.5 cm long, 1.5–4 cm wide and elliptic, lanceolate or oblanceolate in shape, with a rounded base and a sharp tip to the leaf blade. The petiole is bare and grows up to 1–2 mm in length. Its compound fruit are ellipsoidal in shape, reddish-black in colour, 11–13 mm long and 7–9 mm wide. Its wood is used as a raw material, such as from October 1886 onwards for truncheons of the London Metropolitan Police.

Names & Synonyms

Bois de lance, Chilcahuite, Yaya, Yaya fina

Oxandra virgata (Dunal) A. Rich.Uvaria lanceolata Sw.Uvaria virgata Sw.

References (3)

Adansonia 8:168. 1868
Junimma, L., et al, 2016, Revision of Oxandra (Annonaceae). Blumea 61, 2016: 215–266
Plants of Haiti Smithsonian Institute http://botany.si.edu