Gumbo Limbo Trees

The Gumbo Limbo tree is a large semievergreen tree, with an open, irregular to rounded crown, may reach 60 feet in height with an equal or wider spread but is usually seen smaller (25 to 40 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide) in landscape plantings. The trunk and branches of a Gumbo Limbo tree are thick and are covered with resinous, smooth, peeling coppery bark with an attractive, shiny, freshly-varnished appearance. The Gumbo Limbo tree typically develops from two to four, large-diameter limbs originating close to the ground. A native of south Florida and the tropical offshore islands, the soft, lightweight and easily carved wood of gumbo-limbo was used for making carousel horses before the advent of molded plastics.