Bellaco CaspiHimatanthus sucuuba

Did you know?

• Bellaco caspi was first described as a frangipani: botanists published it in 1860, in Flora Brasiliensis, as Plumeria sucuuba^{[4, 5]}.

• Frangipani, oleander and periwinkle are all its relatives in the dogbane family^{[3, 8]}.

• Its species name, sucuuba, is the tree's popular name in the Brazilian Amazon; in Peru the same tree is bellaco caspi^{[1, 6, 7, 9]}.

• In the Central Amazon it grows both on dry uplands and in floodplain forests that stand under water for months at a time^{[10, 11]}.

• In flooding trials, seedlings grown from floodplain trees survived four months completely under water, while seedlings from upland trees did not^{[10, 11]}.

• Botanists now regard bellaco caspi as part of a species with an older name, Himatanthus articulatus, first described as Plumeria articulata^{[4, 7]}.

Origins and history

Bellaco caspi is a tree of lowland tropical forest. It usually grows 8 to 16 meters (about 26 to 52 feet) tall on a straight trunk 30 to 40 centimeters (12 to 16 inches) across^{[1, 2]}, with a narrow, pyramid-shaped crown^[2]. Its bright green leaves are about 25 to 30 centimeters (10 to 12 inches) long^[1], and it bears white, fragrant flowers^{[1, 2]}. Like many members of the dogbane family, it is full of milky sap: cut the bark and a white latex runs out^{[1, 2, 3]}. In Brazil it grows across the Amazon and into the Cerrado region^{[4, 7]}, and in the Central Amazon it is one of the trees found both in seasonally flooded forests and on higher ground that never floods^{[10, 11]}.

The tree entered botany in 1860, published in Flora Brasiliensis as Plumeria sucuuba, the genus of the frangipanis^{[4, 5, 8]}. The name was Richard Spruce's, published on his behalf by the botanist Johannes Müller Argoviensis^{[4, 5]}. In the 1930s it was moved into the genus Himatanthus^{[4, 6]}. Today Kew's Plants of the World Online and Brazil's national flora go one step further and include it in Himatanthus articulatus^{[4, 7]}. Herbalists and researchers still mostly call it Himatanthus sucuuba^{[1, 12, 13]}.

Its common names follow the map. In Brazil it is sucuuba or sucuúba, and janaguba in the northeast^{[6, 7]}; in Peru it is bellaco caspi^{[1, 9]}. Beyond its place in folk practice, its wood is made into boxes, tool handles and toys, and the tree is also cut for firewood^{[2, 4]}.

Traditional uses

Clinical studies in people are still few, but its traditional use across the Amazon is rich, and it rests on two parts of the tree: the bark and the white latex^{[1, 14]}.

• Bark and latex

  In the open-air markets of Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon, the bark is sold in pieces or as a powder for making tea. The fresh white latex is gathered by cutting into the tree.^{[1, 14]}

• Joint and back comfort

  Amazonian folk practice turns to the bark and latex of bellaco caspi for comfortable joints and a comfortable back. Bellaco caspi supports joint comfort and a healthy inflammatory response.*^{[1, 12, 14]}

• Digestive comfort

  The latex, and a tea simmered from the leaves, have also been taken traditionally for the stomach. Bellaco caspi supports digestive comfort.*^{[1, 14]}

Plant compounds

Bellaco caspi contains iridoids, a group of naturally occurring plant compounds; plumericin, the best known of them, has been reported in the tree by separate research teams^{[1, 13]}. It also contains triterpenes, including lupeol and several related triterpene esters^{[1, 2, 13]}.