Dispersal

• Title

  Dispersal

• Description

  Fruits from different trees of C. guianensis display considerable variation in size, ranging from 12 to 25 cm in diameter with smaller ones having as few as 65 and larger ones as many as 550 seeds (Ormond et al., 1985; Schoenberg, 1983a). The number of fruits produced per tree ranges from 50 to 150. Fruits reach maturity in about 12 months (Ormond et al., 1985), but Dahlgren (1824) noted that it takes as long as 18 months for fruits of this species to mature in Guyana. The number of flowers and fruits produced by individuals of C. guianensis vary from one flowering period to the next, sometimes there is a major flowering and other times the flowering is minor. Fruit set is 0.8% following a major flowering and 3.4% after minor flowering, but major and minor flowering events usually yield about the same number of fruits produced because of the greater number of flowers available during a major flowering period (Ormond et al., 1985). The anatomy and morphology of the fruits of Couroupita guianensis have been described in detail by Schoenberg (1983a, 1983b). The cannon-ball like fruits of Couroupita guianensis fall and often crack open upon hitting the ground. The seeds are embedded in a six-segmented fleshy pulp that oxidizes bluish-green when exposed to the air. Peccaries and domestic animals, such as chickens and pigs, are reported to eat the pulp and in so doing swallow the seeds. Prance and Mori (1979) report an observation made by H. W. Koepcke who studied a tree of this species over a three-week period. The ground under the tree was covered by many fruits which remained untouched until a herd of peccaries passed by and broke open the fruits and consumed the pulp. The seeds of species of Couroupita have exotestal trichomes which may protect the seeds and facilitate their passage through the digestive tracts of animals (Tsou & Mori, 2002).