Black olive

Bucida buceras Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1025. 1759

Trees or shrubs to 25 m; branches without thorns in mature plants, usually with stout thorns in juvenile plants. Leaves persistent; petiole 2–15[–26] mm; blade obovate to narrowly obovate, 2–11 × 0.8–4.5[–6.7] cm, base attenuate to cuneate, apex obtuse to rounded, occasionally very slightly retuse, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent abaxially, midvein glabrous or moderately pubescent, without nectar glands near base, glabrous or sparsely pubescent adaxially, midvein glabrous or sparsely pubescent, at least basally, with 2–7 elongate, multicellular, and glandular hairs on adaxial surface of petiole near base; domatia absent. Spikes 3–19 cm, with flowers distributed along 1–6 cm. Flowers 5-merous, bisexual; free portion of hypanthium 1–2 mm; sepals 0.5–0.8 mm; stamens 3–4.5 mm; style 2.5–4 mm. Drupes green to brown, radially symmetrical in cross section, ovoid, (4–)5–8 × 2.5–4 mm, glabrate to densely pubescent; with 5 poorly developed and rounded lobes; hypanthium and calyx ± persistent in age.

Flowering late winter–summer. Hammocks; 0–10 m; introduced; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America.

Terminalia buceras is native to Mexico southward through Central America and throughout the Caribbean region; it is commonly used as a shade tree in southern Florida, and probably should be considered naturalized in Broward, Charlotte, Collier, and Miami-Dade counties, although some have considered the species to be native in extreme southern Florida (C. A. Stace 2010). Hybrids with T. molinetii are also available and used horticulturally. Frequently some of the fruits are infested with mites, causing them to form elongate twisted galls (to 16 cm). The generic name Bucida, here considered a synonym of Terminalia, is derived from the Latin for “horn of an ox,” alluding to the resemblance of the galls to such horns.