See text Guarea is a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs in the family Meliaceae, native to tropical Africa and Central and South America.

At their largest, they are large trees 20–45 m tall, with a trunk over 1 m diameter, often buttressed at the base.

They are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.

The fruit is a four or five-valved capsule, containing several seeds, each surrounded by a yellow-orange fleshy aril; the seeds are dispersed by hornbills and monkeys which eat the aril.

[3] The wood can be used for sculpture and was favoured by the British 20th century sculptor Barbara Hepworth.