CERRADO STUDY XX

BOWDICHIA VIRGILIOIDES KUNTH

SUCUPIRA DO CERRADO

Characteristics
Height 8 to 16 meters, trunk 30–50 cm in diameter. Compound pinnate leaves with pubescent leaflets. Violet flowers, in terminal panicles. The flowering tree is very ornamental. The fruits are small, flat, indehiscent pods, with more than one seed each. This fact distinguishes the species from the sucupira, Pterodon emarginatus, whose fruit contains only one seed, with medicinal properties. It is a pioneer plant, native to dry and poor lands, deciduous, heliophyte, xerophyte. Its dispersion is uniform, but at low density, both in primary and secondary formations. It flowers in August-September and the fruits ripen from October to December, another factor that distinguishes it from P. emarginatus. Plant development in the field is slow.
Occurrence
In the cerrado of Pará, Goiás, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo.
Uses
Wood is used in floors, doors and interior finishes. Although it is cited in the 1929 Brazilian Pharmacopoeia as having its bark used to obtain fluid extract and tincture (sucupira tincture), and the Federal University of Maranhão refers to sucupira tincture (Bavichia vergilioides in the article, which should be corrected to Bowdichia virgilioides ), as an analgesic in cases of rheumatism and osteoarthritis, more recent studies indicate that Pterodon emarginatus is medicinal sucupira, used in the treatment of rheumatism, diabetes and the prophylaxis of schistosomiasis.