Gumbo Limbo

Description:

A gumbo-limbo or "tourist tree" so named because its red and peeling bark resembles that of a sunburnt tourist in a small forest in Florida City before a trek into the Everglades. Interestingly, it fruits year round. These fruits become detached very easily, and are an easy source of foods for birds due to their abundance and high lipid count. Due to this, it is assumed it's lipid count (half of its dry weight in fact) could benefit humans, but though a single trees yield is large, its seeds are small and cumbersome to harvest.

Habitat:

native to tropical regions of the Americas from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribbean to Brazil, Jinotega and Venezuela. Bursera simaruba is prevalent in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucatán, where it is a subdominant plant species to mangroves.