Important Trees of Haiti

30 Chenn
Figure 4.2 Stands of C. longissima are common along stream courses and river flood
plains, as shown here near Baie-de-Henne.
good drainage. Though Haitian oak is found on a wide range of sites, it performs poorly
where the dry season drought is combined with shallow and rocky soils. It rarely is
found in the lowland dry forest that is comprised mostly of the thorny Prosopis and
Acacia species and becomes just as rare as one reaches 1000 m in elevation. It is shade
intolerant.
Average size-class distributions of the species, as cultivated by Haitian farmers,
were studied in Lascahobas (Campbell, 1994). Less than 8% of the tallied stems were
in the saw timber class, defined as having trunks larger than 25 em. Over half of the
population were seedlings and saplings under 10 cm DBH. The balance of the population
was in the I-2 pole merchantable class.
Tree Characteristics: The juvenile form is often multi-stemmed and bushy, eventually
developing into a single-stemmed tree with a narrow crown:DBH ratio. Dominant
heights in Haiti reach up to 28 meters, with an average around 19 ill. Stem diameters
of most of the mature trees in Haiti are between 25--40 cm, though individuals up to 80
cm are sighted occasionally. Natural crown diameters spread to 18 m. However, Haitian
oak growing in field gardens is pruned heavily and rarely does the crown exceed 6 m
(Fig. 4.3). The traditional method of pruning the lateral branches keeps the crown narrow
and is a common feature where the tree is associated with understory crops such as
plantains, sweet potatoes, corn and beans. The tree tolerates pruning well, which not
only allows more light and rainfall penetration, but provides fuelwood and aids in the
development of the bole for lumber production.