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Species
Tabebuia heterophylla ssp. pallida auct. non (Miers) Stehl
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Global Range: Extremely widespread and often very common throughout the Antilles (Gentry 1992). Native from Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands through the Lesser Antilles to Grenada and Barbados.(Longwood, 1962)
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 2
Specimens with Barcodes: 2
Species With Barcodes: 1
Roble is native to Puerto Rico and widely distributed through the West Indies from Hispaniola to Grenada and Barbados. It is also naturalized in Bermuda and planted in southern Florida (16).
In Puerto Rico, it is widespread in abandoned pastures and secondary forests and found in dry or wet natural forests, except for the highest elevations in the Luquillo Mountains and the Cordillera Central. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, roble is particularly common in dry, coastal woodlands and in secondary forests.
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
Comments: Information from Longwood, 1962 (B62LON0100LA) was used in GMINELEV and GMAXELEV.
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Reasons: Extremely widespread and often very common throughout the Antilles (Gentry 1992). Native from Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands through the Lesser Antilles to Grenada and Barbados. In Puerto Rico, roble grows from sea level to 3000 feet in elevation and is widely distributed (Wadsworth 1943).
In Puerto Rico, roble is found on sand, limestone, and heavy clay soils, acid or alkaline in reaction, and residual, alluvial, or colluvial in origin. It appears to grow best, however, on deep clays. Roble is a cosmopolitan species and is found on all soils presently identified in Puerto Rico. The most common soil order on the island is Inceptisols. Physiographically, it is most common on slopes and ridges (19) but is also found on flats adjacent to river beds (9). In general, it is tolerant of degraded sites and abandoned farm lands where it tends to form nearly pure stands.
In Puerto Rico, roble is planted on poor sites to provide cover and to improve the soil. It is recommended for planting on uniform and convex slopes and ridges, where trials have shown it to be a promising species for reforestation (20). It has also done well on humid, waterlogged sites.
Uses: Folk medicine, Building materials/timber, Cultivated ornamental
Comments: Widely cultivated as an ornamental; also used for timber. According to Hodge and Taylor (1957 in Gentry 1992) it lasts especially well in salt water and is thus used for the ribs and sides of dugouts on Dominica, the wood also being employed in the construction of mortars, wooden bowls, and floors. It is also used medicinally. For example, on Dominica a plaster of the bark is used to cure corns and the leaves as a poultice on sores (Hodge & Taylor 1957 in Gentry 1992), and the leaves and bark are boiled as a cure for colds on St. Christopher (Cooley 8797 cited in Gentry 1992).
In Puerto Rico, roble is found principally in the Subtropical Dry, Subtropical Moist, and Subtropical Wet life zones (12,15) where the annual rainfall varies from about 850 to 2500 mm (33 to 98 in). Temperature ranges from a mean minimum in January of 16° C (61° F) to a mean maximum of 31° C (88° F) in August (5). Potential evapotranspiration over the same regions varies between 1400 and 1900 mm (55 and 75 in) annually, with the lowest measurements in the mountainous interior.
Throughout the West Indies, roble is found predominately in areas where the annual rainfall varies between about 1000 and 2500 mm (39 and 98 in) (table 1). All sites are frost free.
Table 1- Presence of roble blanco (Tabebuia heterophylla) in tropical forests of the Western Hemisphere. Islands Forest types¹ Puerto Rico Dry Evergreen Forest
Lower Montane Rain Forest Nevis Dry Evergreen Forest St. Kitts Dry Evergreen Forest Dominica Dry Scrub Woodlands
Fire grassland and standards St. Lucia Littoral Woodland
Dry Scrub Woodlands
Secondary Woodlands St. Vincent Dry Scrub Woodlands Grenadines Dry Scrub Woodlands Grenada Dry Scrub Woodlands Antigua Secondary Woodlands Barbuda Bush land Anguilla Bush land Barbados Dry Scrub Woodlands Martinique Seasonal Forests
Dry Scrub Woodlands Guadeloupe Dry Scrub Woodlands
Littoral Woodland British Virgin Islands Dry Scrub Woodland
Xerophytic Rain Fore ¹Roble is found throughout the Windward and Leeward Islands as a component of the Dry Zone Flora with rainfall between 900 to 1700 mm/yr (35 to 65 in/yr). In all instances, classification is according to Beard (1,2,3).
The heartwood is light brown or golden and not easily separated from the sapwood. The grain is straight to interlocked, and the specific gravity is about 0.55. The wood seasons rapidly with little warping and is fairly easy to work, rating fair for planing, excellent for boring, mortising, and sanding, and good for turning. Penetration and absorption of preservatives is low, even in the sapwood (6,16,17,18). The wood is tough and strong for its weight.
Roble's appearance and technical properties resemble both oak and ash. The wood is widely used for flooring, furniture, cabinetwork, interior trim, tool handles, decorative veneers, boatbuilding, ox yokes, millwork, and sporting goods. Less valuable grades are suitable for boxes, crates, concrete forms and similar items, and occasionally for posts and poles (16,17,18).
Roble's large flowers and narrow, columnar crown have made it a favorite ornamental in yards and along roadsides throughout Puerto Rico. Flowering in many instances has been observed a few years after planting (22).
The tree comes in readily on abandoned farm soils and is particularly adapted to degraded sites. Foresters have planted it on abandoned farmlands where its growth has been slow, but satisfactory.
Roble is also classed as a honey plant.