Mora (plant)

Mora is a genus of large trees in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae^[2] 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.^[1]

Mora
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
(unranked):	Dimorphandra Group A
Genus:	Mora Benth. (1839)
Species[1]
6; see text

Species

• 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 130 feet (40 meters) in height (to 190 feet (58 meters) in the case of M. excelsa).^[3] The genus is particularly noteworthy for the exceptional size of its beans, which are commonly acknowledged to be the largest known dicot seeds, in the instance of M. oleifera being up to seven inches (18 cm) in length, six inches (15 cm) in breadth and three inches (7.6 cm)in thickness,^[4][5] and a weight of up to 2.2 pounds (1,000 grams).^[6] These very large beans develop out of tiny flowers with a pistil only one millimeter wide ^[7] involving a growth of over 2,000,000 fold. The species M. excelsa is one of the few rainforest trees to grow in pure stands.^[8]

Uses

The beans of Mora spp. are edible if boiled, and are also the source of a red dyestuff.^[9] 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.