An observation of a very rare tree of the species Picrasma crenata (Sapindales; Simaroubaceae).

One of my personal goals on Inaturalist is photograph and publish very rare taxa. For this purpose, I defined as very rare the taxa that have less than 10 observations on Inaturalist. Recently, I participated in a class of trees identification and registered lots of individuals identified by Martin Grings, a local botanist. One of the species identified was Picrasma crenata that was the third observation identified as this species on Inaturalist site.

The key characteristics for the identification was leaves alternate, imparipinnate, opposite leaflets with asymmetrical base, crenulate to serrate margin and branch with bitter taste.

The species is known to the brazilian states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, north of Argentina and Paraguay. Picrasma crenata is hard to make photographs of key characteristics like leaves, flowers and fruits beacause they are too high or are too small. The wood is very bitter and has medicinal properties.

Posted on October 17, 2023 07:24 PM by regisrafael