Dipteryx oleifera (syns. Dipteryx panamensis and Coumarouna panamensis), the tonka bean, eboe, choibá, or almendro tree (almond in Spanish), is a species of emergentrainforest tree up to 55 m (180 ft) tall[2] in the family Fabaceae (the subfamily Papilionoideae), native to Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador.[1][3][4]
A valuable hardwood timber tree, its almond-flavored seeds are edible and sold in local markets.[5] Its seedpods are so oily that locals use them as torches.[6] It has "great potential" as an ornamental due to its spectacular bloom of pink flowers which lasts for weeks,[6] and is used as a street tree in Medellín, Colombia.[7] The flowers are followed by green fruit up to 6 cm (2.4 in) with seeds which are a critical food item for the great green macaw (Ara ambigua).[8]
Remarkably, this species has been identified as benefiting from being struck by lightning: it is almost undamaged while its parasitic vines and nearby competitors are killed.[2][9] The trees’ unusual height and wide crown make them up to 68 percent more likely to be struck by lightning relative to other similar trees, and trees living near a large almendro tree are 48 percent more likely to be killed by lightning than those living near another species. [10]
^Ossola, Alessandro; Hoeppner, Malin J.; Burley, Hugh M.; Gallagher, Rachael V.; Beaumont, Linda J.; Leishman, Michelle R. (2020). "The Global Urban Tree Inventory: A database of the diverse tree flora that inhabits the world's cities". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 29 (11): 1907–1914. Bibcode:2020GloEB..29.1907O. doi:10.1111/geb.13169. S2CID225429443.
