Poulsenia

Poulsenia is a monotypic genus of plants in the family Moraceae, native to rainforests from Mexico south through Venezuela, Panama to Bolivia. The only species is Poulsenia armata. Unlike any other Neotropical Moraceae, the leaves and twigs of Poulsenia are covered in small prickles. An additional useful identification characteristic is the distinctive knee-like buttresses of the adult trees. This tree can grow to around 40m and has a brown-greyish bark, also used for traditional local fibre production.

It grows well in lowland areas and medium elevated areas under humid to very humid conditions. The Cucuá tree, as it is locally known, is a characteritical plant in native and secondary forests.

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