Lonchocarpus violaceus

Species of legume

Lonchocarpus violaceus is a species of evergreen tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the Caribbean and northern South America.^[1] It has been introduced to Florida.^[2] Its names include lilac tree, greenheart, Spanish ash, and lancepod.^[1]

According to some sources L. violaceus was used by the Maya peoples to produce the alcoholic beverage, balché. It is likely they are actually referring to L. longistylus which was once synonymized with L. violaceus.^[3]

References

1. Grandtner, M. M. (2005). Elsevier's Dictionary of Trees (1st ed.). Elsevier. pp. 489. ISBN 0444517847.
2. Stebbins, Mark (1990). Flowering Trees of Florida (1st ed.). Pineapple Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 1561641731.
3. Cook, Suzanne (2016). The Forest of the Lacandon Maya: An Ethnobotanical Guide. Springer. pp. 144–145. ISBN 9781461491101.