Leitneria floridana

Florida species

SimaroubaceaeLeitneria

The corktree in the Simaroubaceae family is found only in the southeastern United States (the states of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas). It reaches up to occasionally 8 m tall.

It is an uncommon to rare species and grows in damp habitats, mostly in coastal areas and has extremely light wood with a density less than that of cork; in swamps, trunks are often swollen at the base.

  • Leaves are alternate, elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, 5–20 cm long and 3–6 cm broad, green to olive colour, gray-hairy beneath and crowded near the branch tips.
  • Plant is dioecious (separate male and female plants), producing catkins similar to poplar; male catkins are brownish and female catkins are reddish, appearing in March before the leaves emerge.
  • Fruit is an oblong single-seeded light olive-brown drupe to 1.4 cm in late spring.
  • Bark is reddish, with lighter colored lenticels.

Contributors

  • William (Ned) Friedman
  • Philippe de Spoelberch