Cedrela fissilis aka Argentine Cedar

Cedrela fissilis Vell., a member of the mahogany family Meliaceae, is a large deciduous tree native to Central and South America, ranging from Costa Rica through Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, the Guianas, Trinidad, and across Brazil. The species was first described by José Mariano da Conceição Vellozo in 1825 and is widely known by the regional names cedro, cedro batata, cedro branco, cedro vermelho, and Argentine cedar. Numerous taxa once treated as separate species — including Cedrela brasiliensis, Cedrela tubiflora, Cedrela huberi, and Cedrela macrocarpa — are now recognised as synonyms.

In its native habitat the tree typically reaches 20 to 50 metres in height with a dense, roundish crown and pinnate leaves shed during the dry season. The bole frequently branches low, but in good forest sites it can produce a clear, columnar trunk 12 to 18 metres long and 50 to 100 centimetres in diameter. Growth is fast: seedlings can reach 3 to 4 metres within two years of germination. The species favours deep, moist, fertile, well-drained soils and tolerates both full sun and moderate shade, occurring in primary and secondary lowland to submontane forest from sea level up to about 1,650 metres elevation across the Amazon, Andean foothills, Atlantic coastal lowlands, Cerrado margins, and Caribbean lowlands.

Cedrela fissilis is one of the most economically important timber trees of the Neotropics. Its lightweight, aromatic, durable heartwood — often marketed alongside Cuban cedar (Cedrela odorata) — has been used for plywood, veneer, fine furniture, sculptures, naval and aircraft construction, railroad ties, canoes, and pencils, with traditional Ecuadorian uses also including house lumber. The bark has a long history in Latin American folk medicine as an astringent and emetic for treating malaria, diarrhoea, vomiting, leucorrhoea, and ulcers, and modern phytochemical studies have isolated limonoids and triterpenes with documented trypanocidal activity. The species has no recognised edible parts.

Heavy commercial exploitation throughout the twentieth century has caused widespread population decline. The species is assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (2017), with national red lists in Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru independently classifying it as threatened. It was added to CITES Appendix III by Bolivia in 2010, and in October 2022 all Neotropical Cedrela species — including Cedrela fissilis — were uplisted to CITES Appendix II to regulate international trade in their timber.