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INFORMATION LEAFLET 
FOREIGN WOODS 
Forest Products Laborator y,- Forest Service 
U. S. Department of Agriculture 
1952 
ALBARQO 
BACU 
Cariniana pyriformis Miers 
Family: Lecytnic'aceae 
By 
ELOISiL_GEiiEI, Forest Products Technologist 
Division of Silvicultural Relations 
The genus Cariniana ,£ to which albarco belongs, is made up of 10 or more ~ 
species of large trees that occur from Brazil to Venezuela and Colombia (9).- 
Albarco, or bacu as it is called in Venezuela (Maracaibo region) (6), is the 
chief export timber of the family Lecythidaceae ,, It has been exported, 
chiefly from Cartagena, in limited amounts to Europe, particularly to France 
and England (2 ; 7), and to the United States for many years (9). Albarco is 
very similar to the Brazilian species known as jequitiba (chiefly C legalis 
(Mart.) Kuntze) (9). Albarco was marketed under the misleading name 
"Colombian mahogany" at one time, but it is entirely unrelated to Sv. de tenia 
and can readily be distinguished from it by its cellular structure (10). 
The Tree 
Albarco is said to be one of the most common trees in the forests of northern 
Colombia at elevations of 200 to 2,000 feet above sea level, with the best 
stands at 500 to 1,000 feet, on the lower slopes and in the well-watered 
valleys (1). This species produces some of the largest and tallest trees in 
-Maintained at Madison, Wis., in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin. 
p 
-This genus is related to C our atari and Allantoma . 
3 
-Underlined numbers in parentheses refer to the list of numbered references 
at the end of the article. 
Rept. No. R1921 
-1- 
Agriculture -Madison 
