Pterocarpus officinalis (Dragonsblood Tree)

An evergreen tree native from southern Mexico through Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America, it belongs to the Fabaceae family. Often associated with swamp forests and stream margins, it develops prominent, plank-like buttress roots and releases dark red latex from damaged bark. Its compound leaves have glossy, pointed leaflets. Fragrant yellow to orange-yellow, pea-shaped flowers grow in branched clusters at leaf axils and stem tips. The flattened, dark brown pods usually contain one or two seeds. Photographed in the department of La Guajira, Colombia.