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Legume Family: The tallest trees measured, kempas (Koompassia excelsa), in Sarawak, were 275 feet high. A single plant family, the lauan or dip-terocarp family (Dipterocarpaceae), though absent from the New World, is by far the commonest, often producing half of the timber volume. The legume family, among many others, is well represented. Hawaii too has areas of tropical rain forest in which tree ferns are conspicuous.
In the New World the tropical montane forest extends in a narrow band down the cordil-lera from Mexico southward on both sides to Ecuador and on the east side of the Andes to Peru and Bolivia. Characteristic families are the laurel family (Lauraceae), myrtle family (Myrtaceae), legume family (Leguminosae), and madder family (Rubiaceae). Podocarp (Podocarpus) is scattered in this type and also in the Old World with other conifers. Evergreen oaks range south in this forest from Mexico to Colombia. One of the world's largest oaks is Copey oak (Quercus copeyensis) in the Costa
The wealth of trees includes thousands of tropical American species classified among many plant families, of which the legume family (Leguminosae) perhaps is best represented. The woods of this mixed forest vary greatly in quality from hard and heavy to soft and lightweight woods. Mahogany (Swietenia), the world's premier cabinet wood, is scattered in this forest from Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil and in the West Indies. Spanish cedar (Cedrela), also in the Mahogany family (Meliaceae), is perhaps the most important timber for domestic use in tropical America. |
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