Mora (plant)
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Mora is a genus of large trees in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae<ref name="6subfamilies">Template:Cite journal</ref> of the legume family Fabaceae (or in some classifications the family Caesalpinaceae of the order Fabales). There are six species, all native to lowland rainforests in northern South America, southern Central America, the southern Caribbean islands, and Hispaniola.<ref name = "POWO"/>
Species
Six species are accepted by the Plants of the World Online database:<ref name="POWO"/>
- Mora abbottii Britton & Rose – cola tree, coi, col (Dominican Republic)
- Mora ekmanii (Urb.) Britton & Rose – (Hispaniola: Dominican Republic, Haiti)
- Mora excelsa Benth. – nato, nato rojo, mora (Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
- Mora gonggrijpii (Kleinhoonte) Sandwith – Moraboekea (Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela)
- Mora oleifera (Hemsl.) Ducke – (Panama, Colombia)
- Mora paraensis (Ducke) Ducke – pracuuba (Brazil)
Description
These are large, heavily buttressed rainforest trees up to Template:Cvt in height, to Template:Cvt in the case of Mora excelsa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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 Template:Cvt long, Template:Cvt in breadth and Template:Cvt thick,<ref>http://www.inbio.ac.cr/bims/ubi/plantas/ubiespejo/ubiid2143&find.htmlTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>Elbert L. Little and Robert G. Dixon, "Arboles Comunes de la Provincia de Esmerelda" (Rome: UNFAO, 1969) p. 222.</ref> and a weight of up to Template:Cvt.<ref>Daniel H. Janzen, "Costa Rican Natural History" (Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1983) p. 281</ref> These very large beans develop out of tiny flowers with a pistil only 1 mm wide.<ref>Encyclopedia Britanica (1970 edition) Volume 13 page 911</ref> The species Mora excelsa is one of the few rainforest trees to grow in pure stands.<ref>Ivan T. Sanderson and David Loth, "Ivan Sanderson's Book of Great Jungles" (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965) p. 116.</ref>Template:Better source needed
Uses
The beans of Mora spp. are edible if boiled, and are also the source of a red dyestuff.<ref>O.N. Allen and Ethel K. Allen, "The Leguminosae" (Madison: Univ. Wisconsin Press) pp. 445-446</ref> Some of the species are important for timber production. Mora excelsa and Mora gonggrijpii are also known as nato, and are commonly used in guitar body and neck construction.