Draft:Himatanthus Scucuuba

INTRODUCTION Himatanthus sucuuba is an evergreen tree with a narrowly pyramidal crown and a straight, cylindrical bole of up to 40 cm in diameter. Himatanthus sucuuba is a species of the genus Plumeria. This plant is well respected and widely used in herbal medicine in the Amazon and South America. It has a long history of use among the indigenous peoples and was widely adopted by the Europeans when they arrived in S. America. The plant is gaining some recognition outside of South America, and a handful of bark extract and latex extract products can now be sold in the United States and Europe. The plant's effectiveness in treating infected wounds, candida, tuberculosis, syphilis, and even management might be explained by the documented antimicrobial actions of the bark and latex. DESCRIPTION Grows best in a sunny position. Established plants are drought tolerant. Himatanthus sucuuba is an evergreen tree with a narrowly pyramidal crown; it can grow 8 - 16 meters tall. The straight, more or less cylindrical bole can be 30 - 40cm in diameter—an ornamental tree with white, perfumed flowers. HABITAT Rainforests, in both dense primary and the more open, secondary growth areas, favor deep, well-drained sandy or loamy soils and avoid areas subject to periodic inundation. CONSERVATION Himatanthus sucuuba is present in the United States, South America, Europe, and the Amazon. This plant is known for helping with medical cases and is used for latex. More research should be done on this plant to determine its true use and more about its history, as well as to understand what habitats it is capable of living in. CONSERVATION STATUS IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION Family: Apocynaceae Kingdom: Plantae BINOMIAL NAME Himatanthus sucuuba SYNOMYN Plumeria sucuuba Spruce ex Müll.Arg. RANGE MAP S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas; C. America - Panama.