Carapa

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Sapindales

Familia: Meliaceae
Subfamilia: Cedreloideae
Genus: Carapa
Species: C. akuri – C. alticola – C. amorphocarpa – C. angustifolia – C. batesii – C. dinklagei – C. gogo – C. grandiflora – C. guianensis – C. hygrophila – C. littoralis – C. llanocarti – C. longipetala – C. macrantha – C. megistocarpa – C. microcarpa – C. nicaraguensis – C. pariensis – C. parviflora – C. planadensis – C. procera – C. surinamensis – C. vasquezii – C. velutina – C. wohllebenii
Name

Carapa Aubl., Hist. Pl. Guiane 2(Suppl.): 32 (1775).

Type species: C. guianensis Aubl.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Persoonia Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4, 2: 331 (1799).
Racapa M.Roem., Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 1: 123 (1846).
Touloucouna M.Roem., Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 1: 123 (1846).
Zelea Ten., Atti Riunione Sci. Ital. 3: 504 (1841 publ. 1842).
Zurloa Ten., Atti Riunione Sci. Ital. 3: 503 (1841 publ. 1842).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Africa
Regional: West Tropical Africa
Benin, Burkina, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.
Regional: West-Central Tropical Africa
Burundi, Cabinda, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Rwanda.
Regional: East Tropical Africa
Tanzania, Uganda.
Continental: Asia-Tropical
Regional: Indo-China
Vietnam (introduced).
Continental: Southern America
Regional: Central America
Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.
Regional: Caribbean
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Leeward Islands, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Islands.
Regional: Northern South America
French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela.
Regional: Western South America
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru.
Regional: Brazil
Brazil Northeast, Brazil North.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition

References
Primary references

Fusée Aublet, J.B.C. 1775. Histoire des plantes de la Guiane françoise, rangées suivant la méthode sexuelle, avec plusieurs mémoires sur différens objets intéressans, relatifs à la culture & au commerce de la Guiane françoise, & une notice des plantes de l' Isle-de-France. Tome 2. Pp. 622–976, tabl. 1–52, misc. 1–160. Pierre-François Didot jeune, Londres [London], Paris. BHL. Reference page.

Additional references

Kenfack, D. 2011. A Synoptic Revision of Carapa (Meliaceae). Harvard Papers in Botany 16(2): 171–231. DOI: 10.3100/0.25.016.0201 Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Carapa in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Oct 1. Reference page.
Tropicos.org 2021. Carapa. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Oct 1.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Carapa. Published online. Accessed: 1 Oct 2021.
Hassler, M. 2021. World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. . Carapa. Accessed: 1 Oct 2021.
Hassler, M. 2021. Carapa. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Oct 1. Reference page.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Carapa. .

Carapa is a genus of flowering plants in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. These are trees up to 30 meters tall occurring in tropical South America, Central America,[1] and Africa. Common names include andiroba and crabwood.

Diversity

The list of species within this genus is still under discussion. Generally recognized species are:

Carapa guianensis (andiroba, crabwood): Amazon Region, Central America, Caribbean
Carapa megistocarpa (tangare): Ecuador
Carapa procera (African crabwood, kowi, okoto): West Africa, the Congos

Other proposed species:

Carapa akuri[2]
Carapa alticola[3]
Carapa longipetala[3]
Carapa nicaraguensis
Carapa vasquezii[4]

Uses

The timber is important, and oil is produced from the seeds. The name andiroba is from Nheengatu nhandi rob, meaning "bitter oil". Carapa guianensis produces oil similar to neem oil.

The oil contained in the almond andiroba is light yellow and extremely bitter. When subjected to a temperature below 25 °C, it solidifies producing a consistency like that of petroleum jelly. The oil contains olein, palmitine and glycerin.

Andiroba oil is one of the most commonly sold medicinal oils in the Amazon. It is also used to repel mosquitoes by forming an oilseed cake into balls and burned, or mixed with annatto (Bixa orellana) and formed into a paste applied topically to protect the body from mosquito bites.[5]

Andiroba oil is extracted from light brown seeds collected from beaches and rivers, where they float after being shed by the trees or from the forest ground.
Crabwood virgin oil
References

Hogan, C. M. 2008. Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests. Encyclopedia of Earth, World Wildlife Fund, National Council of Science and the Environment.
Forget P. M.; et al. (2009). "A new species of Carapa (Meliaceae) from Central Guyana" (PDF). Brittonia. 61 (4): 366–74. doi:10.1007/s12228-009-9090-z. S2CID 19752493. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
Kenfack D.; Peréz A. J. (2011). "Two new species of Carapa (Meliaceae) from western Ecuador". Systematic Botany. 36 (1): 124–28. doi:10.1600/036364411X553207. S2CID 84576060.
Kenfack D (2011). "Carapa vasquezii (Meliaceae), a new species from western Amazonia" (PDF). Brittonia. 63 (1): 7–10. doi:10.1007/s12228-010-9163-z. S2CID 32782210.[permanent dead link]
Miot HA, Batistella RF, Batista Kde A, Volpato DE, Augusto LS, Madeira NG, Haddad V Jr, Miot LD (2004). "Comparative study of the topical effectiveness of the Andiroba oil (Carapa guianensis) and DEET 50% as repellent for Aedes sp". Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 46 (5): 253–6. doi:10.1590/s0036-46652004000500004. PMID 15517027.