Mora is a genus of large trees in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae
Species
Six species are accepted by the Plants of the World Online database:
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Mora abbottii Britton & Rose – cola tree, coi, col (Dominican Republic)
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Mora ekmanii (Urb.) Britton & Rose – (Hispaniola: Dominican Republic, Haiti)
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Mora excelsa Benth. – nato, nato rojo, mora (Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
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Mora gonggrijpii (Kleinhoonte) Sandwith – Moraboekea (Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
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Mora oleifera (Hemsl.) Ducke – (Panama, Colombia)
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Mora paraensis (Ducke) Ducke – pracuuba (Brazil)
Description
These are large, heavily buttressed rainforest trees up to in height, to in the case of
Mora excelsa.
The genus is noted for the exceptional size of its beans, which are among the largest known
dicot seeds, in the instance of
Mora oleifera being up to long, in breadth and thick,
[http://www.inbio.ac.cr/bims/ubi/plantas/ubiespejo/ubiid2143&find.html][Elbert L. Little and Robert G. Dixon, "Arboles Comunes de la Provincia de Esmerelda" (Rome: UNFAO, 1969) p. 222.] and a weight of up to .
[Daniel H. Janzen, "Costa Rican Natural History" (Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1983) p. 281] These very large beans develop out of tiny flowers with a pistil only 1 mm wide.
[Encyclopedia Britanica (1970 edition) Volume 13 page 911] The species
Mora excelsa is one of the few rainforest trees to grow in pure stands.
[Ivan T. Sanderson and David Loth, "Ivan Sanderson's Book of Great Jungles" (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965) p. 116.]
Uses
The beans of
Mora spp. are edible if boiled, and are also the source of a red dyestuff.
[O.N. Allen and Ethel K. Allen, "The Leguminosae" (Madison: Univ. Wisconsin Press) pp. 445-446]
Some of the species are important for timber production.
Mora excelsa and
Mora gonggrijpii are also known as
Nato wood, and are commonly used in guitar body and neck construction.
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