Pentaclethra macroloba is a large and common leguminous tree in the genus Pentaclethra native to the wet tropical areas of the northern Neotropics, which can form monocultural stands in some seasonally flooded habitats. It has giant, bipinnate leaves shaped like feathers. It uses seed dispersal by water to establish itself in new areas, having floating seeds that are left behind after the waters recede after floods or tides. It has hard timber which is not very resistant to rot in the tropics, but it can be treated, has a pretty pink-red colour when dry, and has a number of uses. Oil used in cosmetics is extracted from the large seeds. In the northern Amazon region the bark is used in herbal medicine as an antivenom, and in the Guianas the bark has been used as a fish poison. Despite their toxicity, the seeds are eaten by variegated squirrels, parrots and macaws, and serve as the nurseries of the larvae of the moth Carmenta surinamensis.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat GIFTFloresta de Igapó, Floresta Ombrófila (= Floresta Pluvial)
Mycorrhiza typearbuscular
Woodinesswoody
Physiology & chemistry9
Leaf C:N ratio18.22 g/g
Leaf c527 mg/g
Leaf dry-matter content (LDMC)420 mg/g
Leaf n29.28 mg/g
Leaf p1.19 mg/g
Nitrogen fixingnitrogen_fixer
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Specific leaf area (SLA)28.07 mm²/mg
Wood density593 mg/cm³
Other traits1
Diaspore typeSeed
05DNA & barcoding3 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Pentaclethra macroloba has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens3
Marker genes3
eDNA detections2
Countries1
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcLtrnH-psbA
plant barcodemarker
07Deep time~2.94 Ma lineage
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin2.94 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type1 098 records
Wild obs. + sensor378
Museum / vouchered720
Origin
Native33
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO1 984 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy69% within 1 km
≤100 m 86≤1 km 39≤10 km 25>10 km 30
180 georeferenced · 198 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor378
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy23% within 1 km
≤100 m 1≤1 km 10≤10 km 31>10 km 5
47 georeferenced · 673 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence720
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions14 of 54 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Saint Louis, US
126
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
109
Bronx, US
78
Kew, GB
50
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record
42
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
35
Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record
29
Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldilocation not on record
22
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)location not on record
20
León, NI
16
JBRJlocation not on record
14
Durham, US
13
UEPAlocation not on record
12
Mexico City, MX
10
Chicago, US
9
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record
9
Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record
7
San José, CR
5
ASUlocation not on record
5
South Kensington, GB
5
Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Ministry of Agriculturelocation not on record
5
Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record
5
Paris, FR
5
Altos de Pipe, VE
4
Universidade Paulistalocation not on record
3
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record
3
USP-IBlocation not on record
2
Institut fur Allgemeine Mikrobiologielocation not on record
2
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
2
UFPElocation not on record
2
IECOSlocation not on record
2
SCZlocation not on record
2
MEXUlocation not on record
2
UEMlocation not on record
2
MeiseBGlocation not on record
1
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
1
UNICAMPlocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
WTUlocation not on record
1
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarinalocation not on record
1
La Selva Biological Station, Organization for Tropical Studieslocation not on record
1
Universidad de la Amazonia (UniAmazonia)location not on record
1
Feira de Santana, BR
1
Universität Tübingenlocation not on record
1
Brasília, BR
1
Jardín Botánico de Cartagena "Guillermo Piñeres" (JBC)location not on record
1
Cenargenlocation not on record
1
Collections de la Faculte des Sciences de Lyonlocation not on record
1
Tampa, US
1
MAlocation not on record
1
Universidad Industrial de Santanderlocation not on record
1
Museo naturalistico del Frignano Ferruccio Minghellilocation not on record
1
IEPAlocation not on record
1
UFPRlocation not on record
1
54 institutions · 677 of 720 vouchered records shown · 43 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA2 detections
Where the DNA of Pentaclethra macroloba was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found2
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 2 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median25.3 °C 25.3–25.3
Seasonal swing summer↔winter1.00 °C
Max temp (day)28.9 °C
Min temp (night)22.0 °C
Precipitation311 mm/mo
Air humidity66.5 %
Moisture balance167 mm/mo
Vapour deficit1,076 Pa
Wind speed1.10 m/s
Cloud cover32.7 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 098 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI2 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 specimens↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗