Buttonwood
 

"Iris Cohen"

Of course I have done a Web search, but I would like any additional
information on the Florida buttonwood, Conocarpus erectus. It is a very
curious tree, & I would appreciate if anyone has any offbeat information
about it. It is considered neo-tropical, & I was surprised to find that it
has gotten as far as West Africa. Having seen what passes for its flowers, I
was not in the least surprised to find the Combretaceae in the order
Myrtales.
Iris

donald j haarmann schreef
-----------
Sorry 'bout the delay. I have been bussier than an one-armed hedge trimmer
of late!

Turning to the ever useful:-

2 Volume
HL Little, Jr. & FW Wadsworth's
Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Agriculture Handbook No. 249. July 1964

Combretum Family (Cormretaceæ)
Mangle botón, button-mangrove Conocarpus erectus L.

A small evergreen tree of 20 feet in height and 8 inches in trunk diameter.

... purplish brown rounded conelike fruits 3/8-1/2 inch in diameter,
composed of many scalelike 1-seeded fruits about 1/8 inch long.

The only mangrove species with alternate leaves.

Bisexual flowers.

... wood very hard, very heavy (sp g. 1.0), strong, and fine textured. ...
takes a fine polish and is said to be generally very durable, although
susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites.
The wood has been used for fencepost, crossties, wood turning, and in
boatbuilding. It burns slowly and makes good fuel and charcoal.

The bark has served in tanning and medicine, and the leaves contain tannin
also.

Mangrove swamp forests on silty shores near salt brackish water sometimes
also on rocky and sandy shores around Puerto Rico.

Range.- Cen and Southern Florida, including the Keys, Bermuda, nearly
thorough out the West Indies (except Dominica) from Bahamas and Cuba to
Trinidad and Tobago and Dutch West Indies. On both costs of continental
tropical America from Mexico south through Central America to Ecuador and
Galapagos Islands and to Brazil. Also in Western tropical Africa.

Other common names.- Many!

donald j haarmann - independently dubious

+ + +

Well, a better source, at least where it concerns wood would be:
USDA-FS-FPL
FPL-GTR-83
Harry A. Alden
Hardwoods of North America
1995

"forms dense thickets of shrubby undergrowth, but becomes tree-like when
growing alone"

Wood has a density of 801 kg/m3 (at 12%)

Distribution includes Melanesia and Polynesia

========

The latter would be consistent with distribution of mangroves by Ocean
rather than by continent
PvR