Dacryodes excelsa

{{Short description|Species of tree}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Arbol de Tabonuco (Dacryodes excelsa), jpg format.jpg

|image_caption = Tabonuco tree (Dacryodes excelsa)

|genus = Dacryodes

|species = excelsa

|authority = Vahl

}}

Dacryodes excelsa is a tree native to Puerto Rico with a habitat that extends into the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean region.[http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/dacryodes/excelsa.htm Tabonuco: 'Dacryodes excelsa' (Vahl.)] USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Its English vernacular names include gommier and candlewood.[http://eol.org/pages/583026/overview Dacryodes excelsa, "Candlewood": Overview.] Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Its Spanish common name is tabonuco.[http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/Dacryodesexcelsa.pdf Dacryodes excelsa (Vahl) "Tabonuco": Burseraceae, Familia de las burseras.] Ariel E. Lugo & Frank H. Wadsworth. USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 18 September 2013. According to Richards,{{cite book|last1=Richards|first1=P.W.|title=The Tropical Rain Forest. An Ecological Study.|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|edition=2nd|location=Cambridge}} "it is the most conspicuous large emergent tree" in the Luquillo mountains of Puerto Rico. It is also found in Toro Negro State Forest, in Puerto Rico Cordillera Central.[http://www.drna.gobierno.pr/biblioteca/publicaciones/hojas-de-nuestro-ambiente/30-Toro%20Negro%20ultimo.pdf Bosques de Puerto Rico: Bosque Estatal de Toro Negro.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807061645/http://www.drna.gobierno.pr/biblioteca/publicaciones/hojas-de-nuestro-ambiente/30-Toro%20Negro%20ultimo.pdf |date=August 7, 2015 }} Hojas de Nuestro Ambiente. July 2008. [Publication/Issue: P-030] Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Retrieved 13 September 2013. Dacryodes excelsa grows to around {{convert|115|ft}}, and grows best in soil with a PH of 4.5–5.5.{{PLANTS | symbol = DAEX | taxon = Dacryodes excelsa | access-date = 22 August 2021}}