Pachira

Pachira
Pachira aquatica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Bombacoideae
Genus: Pachira
Aubl.[1]
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]

Bombacopsis Pittier
Carolinea L.f.
Pochota Ram.Goyena

Pachira is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Previously the genus was assigned to Bombacaceae. [2][1] Prior to that the genus was found in the (now obsolete) Sterculiaceae.

Some 77 species have been identified.[3][4][5] They form small or large trees with digitate leaves, and the fruit an oval woody one-celled capsule opening by a number of divisions and containing many seeds. The genus name is derived from a language spoken in Guyana.[6]

  1. ^ a b c "Genus: Pachira Aubl". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-06-05. Archived from the original on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  2. ^ IABIN Archived 2012-07-01 at archive.today
  3. ^ Plant systematics: Pachira
  4. ^ Botanica: Pachira
  5. ^ Royal Botanical gardens Kew: Pachira insignis
  6. ^ Helmut Genaust (1983): Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen, 2. Auflage. Birkhäuser Verlag – ISBN 3-7643-1399-4