The genus Bursera has approximately 100 species, distributed exclusively in the Americas from the southwest and southeast United States of America to northern Peru and Brazil, including the West Indies and the Galapagos.
Of all the species of Bursera, at least 80% live naturally in Mexico and are mainly distributed along the length of the Pacific coast. About 50 species are found in the Balsas River Basin and the basins of Papagayo, Armería-Coahuayana, the valley of Tehuacan-Cuicatlán and the Tehuantepec basin follow in order of species richness. Together, these basins contain about 90% of the richness of Bursera in Mexico.
Copals are a typical element of deciduous tropical forest, the typical vegetation of the Pacific coast from Sinaloa to the north-western tip of South America, which is founds within the limits of sub-humid tropical climates (Aw0) and semi-dry (BS1), between 200 and 1600 m.a.s.l. |
