ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of cow tree. Latex from trunk, considered to be highly nutritive, is used by natives as a milk-like beverage, as a cream substitute in coffee, made into a kind of vegetable cheese, and made into a dessert after being chilled, whipped, and flavored. Plants grown in tropical areas for fruit or nuts and for leaves used for fodder. According to Hartwell, a plaster of the milk is said to be a folk remedy for swelling of the spleen and indolent tumors. Reported to be lactagague and masticatory, cow tree is a folk remedy for asthma, inflammation, and tumors. The latex is taken for asthma in Venezuela, and as an astringent for diarrhea in Costa Rica. The wood can serve as a fuelwood, said to burn green. Resin extracted from the fruits is used to make candles.
