The Lecythidaceae comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250-300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Couroupita guianensis, known by a variety of common names including cannonball tree, is a deciduous tree in the flowering plant family Lecythidaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of Central and South America, and it is cultivated in many other tropical areas throughout the world because of its beautiful, fragrant flowers and large, interesting fruits. Fruits are brownish grey. There are medicinal uses for many parts of Couroupita guianensis, and the tree has cultural and religious significance in India.
Grias is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae, described by Linnaeus in 1759. It is native to northwestern South America, Central America, and Jamaica.
Couratari is a genus of trees in the family Lecythidaceae, first described as a genus in 1775. They native to tropical South America and Central America.
Asteranthos is a genus of woody plant in the family Lecythidaceae. There is only one known species, Asteranthos brasiliensis, native to Venezuela and Brazil.
Barringtonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus with this name in 1775. It is native to Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The genus name commemorates Daines Barrington.
Cariniana is a genus of trees in the family Lecythidaceae, first described as a genus in 1842. The entire genus is native to South America. Many are of importance for timber production. Species of this genus may be known commonly as jequitibá.
Corythophora is a genus of woody plant in the Lecythidaceae family first described as a genus in 1939. It is native to northeastern South America.
- Corythophora altaR.Knuth - Pará, Amazonas
- Corythophora amapaensisPires ex S.A.Mori & Prance - French Guiana, Amapá
- Corythophora labriculata(Eyma) S.A.Mori & Prance - Suriname
- Corythophora rimosaW.A.Rodrigues - French Guiana, Amazonas, Amapá, Suriname
Lecythis is a genus of woody plant in the Lecythidaceae family first described as a genus in 1758. It is native to Central America and South America.
Napoleonaea is a genus of woody plant in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus in 1804, the same year its namesake crowned himself Emperor of the French. The genus is native to Africa.
Couroupita nicaraguarensis, the bala de cañón, coco de mono, paraíso, zapote de mico, or zapote de mono, is a species of woody plant in the family Lecythidaceae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss. In Puerto Rico, the only place it is found at is Toa Alta, Puerto Rico.
Gustavia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae described by Linnaeus in 1775. It is native to tropical Central America and South America. Many of the species are threatened; some are critically endangered Gustavia superba, though, is actually abundant in re-growing secondary forests. It grows in northern South America, from Panama south through the Andes as far as Ecuador, and along the Caribbean coast and in the Amazon basin.
Planchonia is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus in 1851. It is native to Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and Australia.
- Planchonia brevistipitataKuswata - Sabah
- Planchonia careya (F.Muell.) R.Knuth - Cockatoo Apple, Cocky Apple or Billygoat Plum - New Guinea, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Planchonia grandisRidl. - Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra
- Planchonia papuanaR.Knuth - New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Aru
- Planchonia rupestris R.L.Barrett & M.D.Barrett - Western Australia
- Planchonia spectabilisMerr. - Luzon, Mindanao
- Planchonia timorensis Blume - Timor
- Planchonia valida(Blume) Blume - Andaman & Nicobar, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Java
Lecythis zabucajo, the sapucaia or paradise nut, is a large nut-producing tree occurring in the Guianas, Suriname, Venezuela, Ecuador, Honduras and Brazil, and which distribution range is much the same as that of the greater spear-nosed bat. Although not singling out Lecythis zabucajo, Jacques Huber noted in 1909 that fruit bats played the most important role in seed dispersal in Amazonian forests. The quality of its nuts led to the species' being introduced to numerous tropical countries, notably Trinidad, where it has flourished. The nuts are a valuable food resource and yield oil suitable for cooking and domestic use.
Monkey pot is a common name for many tropical trees in the genus Lecythis of the family Lecythidaceae and the fruits produced by these trees, particularly Lecythis ollaria of Brazil and Lecythis zabucajo of northeastern South America. The nuts of most Lecythis species are edible. The name is said to derive from an old proverb, "a wise old monkey doesn't stick its hand into a pot", referring to the pot-like fruit that hold the seeds, and monkeys' eagerness to obtain the seeds. Supposedly young monkey's would stick their paw into an almost ripe fruit and would be unable to get it back out for their paws were filled with nuts, while old monkey's would learn it was better to be patient and pull out the nuts one by one. The fruit is coconut-sized, and roundish and woody, with a cap that pops off when it reaches maturity. Inside the fruit are anywhere from eight to 40 seeds, which eventually fall from the woody capsule after a period of time.
Lecythis ampla is a species of woody plant in the family Lecythidaceae, which also includes the Brazil nut. Common names include coco, olla de mono, jicaro and salero. It is found in Central and South America. It has been considered an endangered species in Costa Rica.
Allantoma is a genus of woody plant in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus in 1874. It is native to northwestern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, northern Brazil.
- Allantoma decandra S.A.Mori, Ya Y.Huang & Prance - Peru, Brazil
- Allantoma integrifolia S.A.Mori - Amazonas State in Brazil
- Allantoma kuhlmannii S.A.Mori - Rondônia State in Brazil
- Allantoma lineata Miers - Amazonas State in Venezuela; Amazonas and Pará States in Brazil
- Allantoma pachyantha S.A.Mori, Ya Y.Huang & Prance - Amazonas State in Brazil
- Allantoma pauciramosa S.A.Mori, Ya Y.Huang & Prance - Amazonas State in Brazil
- Allantoma plurifloraS.A.Mori, Ya Y.Huang & Prance - Colombia
- Allantoma uaupensis S.A.Mori, Ya Y.Huang & Prance - Amazonas State in Brazil
The Catatumbo moist forests (NT0108) is an ecoregion in Venezuela and Colombia to the west and east of Lake Maracaibo. It includes four regions of moist forest on slightly higher ground than the dry forest and mangroves that surround the lake. The forest has unique flora related to the flora of the Amazon basin. It is badly degraded due to farming, livestock grazing and oil exploration.
Scott Alan Mori was a botanist and plant collector. He specialized in the systematics and ecology of neotropical Lecythidaceae and Amazonian and Guianian floristics.
Licania platypus, also known as sun sapote, sansapote, sonzapote, sunzapote, sungano, zapote cabelludo, sapote, sangre, zapote amarillo, zapote borracho, zapote cabello, zapote de mico, zapote de mono, mesonsapote, mezonzapote, cabeza de mico, caca de nino, sonza, sunza, zunza, chaute jolobob, urraco, chupa, and monkey apple, is a flowering tree in the family Chrysobalanaceae.
