ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Virola Nut. The seeds are the source of Virola fat, a nutmeg-scented fat which soon becomes rancid. Seeds are pierced onto sharp sticks as candle-nuts. The liniments made from Virola sebifera are used in folk remedies for tumors. Reported from the South and Central American Centers of Diversity, virola nut, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate waterlogging, but not to the extent that Virola surinamensis tolerates flooding. Ranging from Subtropical Wet to Rain through Tropical Moist to Rain Forest Life Zones, virola nut is estimated to tolerate annual precipitation of 20 to 45 dm, annual temperature of 23 to 27°C, and pH of 6.0 to 8.0. Rarely, if ever, cultivated. The cryptocotylar seedlings may be moved from beneath the parent tree.
