Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg.

vernacular gumbo limbo — species · Burseraceae

USDA: BUSI
GBIF: 3190450
Rank: species

gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba) — Platephotograph · Ricard Busquets ReverteCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Burseraceae Kunth
Genus: Bursera

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native
NAV Navassa Island Native
PR Puerto Rico Native
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native

§2b

County-level range

· 13 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 13 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: Low
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 40 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
pH range: 6–7
Root depth: 36 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth rate: Rapid
Mature height: 40 ft
Height @ 20 y: 60 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Green
Fruit colour: Red
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Spring
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, cuttings

§3e

Use & availability

Nursery stock: No
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Fuelwood: Medium
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 13 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 13 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/BUSI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3190450 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z