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Ormosia coutinhoi
 This seed obtained by Mark Bartlett via purchase of an "Amazon Necklace" on eBay. Maximum dimensions of this seed are 34.2 mm wide and 16.4 mm thick. This particular seed is thicker, for its width (i.e., more inflated), than the thinner (i.e., more compressed) bean shown from Little Cayman Island. |
  Side angle view, showing the narrow hilum and its limited extent (less than half way around the seed; see image below), along with the inflation and curvature of the seed. |
This species is rarely collected as a drift seed... but it does happen!
The tree exists in Northeastern South America and is commercially harvested in Guyana.
The seed may float down tributaries to the Amazon River or Orinoco River and then out to the sea.
This species is not listed in either the World Guide or Sea-Beans From the Tropics
Other common names: Aguitin, Buiuss, Korokororo, Neko-oudou, San Martin Blanc, and Tento
White bars indicate the extent of the hilum on the seed,
extending less than half the circumference of the seed.
The following images, by Julie & Al Renneisen, are of an Ormosia coutinhoi seed that they collected
from the shores of Little Cayman Island, south of Cuba.
Seed size: 1.68" x 1.50" and 0.625" (= 5/8") maximum thickness.
1.68" = 42.7 mm maximum width.
Ormosia coutinhoi from Little Cayman Island, centered, along with other seeds
(Entada, Mucuna, and Dioclea) for size comparison.
(photos: Julie & Al Renneisen)
Links
For text and graphics about this seed, see the book:
Major Timber Trees of Guyana, A Field Guide, by A.M. Polak, 1992,
Tropenbos Series nr. 2. The Tropenbos Foundation Wageningen, The Netherlands. Veenman Drukkers, Wageningen.
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