Anchovy pear | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Lecythidaceae |
Genus: | Grias |
Species: | G. cauliflora |
Binomial name | |
Grias cauliflora | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Grias cauliflora, the anchovy pear, [3] [4] [5] (also called the river pear) is an evergreen fruit tree native to Jamaica, Central America, and Colombia. It is often found near rivers or marshes in large colonies. It belongs to the Lecythidaceae (Brazil nut) family. [2]
The edible nuts grow clumped together in large, round, woody and extremely hard seed pods the size of a large grapefruit. The meat of the seed (the "nut") is very rich in oil and grows from 7 to 9 cm long and 2 to 4 cm in diameter. The tree has fragrant yellow flowers about 5 cm across and grows to a height of about 15 m (50 feet). The anchovy pear tree bears spear-shaped, glossy leaves produced in palm-like tufts that reach an average length of 90 cm. The edible, brown, berrylike fruits for which it is cultivated for pickling are not related to the common pear. The fruit has a taste similar to that of the mango. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Tagetes tenuifolia, the signet marigold, golden marigold or lemon marigold, is a species of the wild marigold in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across most of Mexico as well as Central America, Colombia, and Peru.
Ticodendron incognitum is the only species of Ticodendron, and the only member of the family Ticodendraceae. It is most closely related to the family Betulaceae.
Dipteryx is a genus containing a number of species of large trees and possibly shrubs. It belongs to the "papilionoid" subfamily – Faboideae – of the family Fabaceae. This genus is native to South and Central America and the Caribbean. Formerly, the related genus Taralea was included in Dipteryx.
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.
Drift seeds and drift fruits are seeds and fruits adapted for long-distance dispersal by water. Most are produced by tropical trees, and they can be found on distant beaches after drifting thousands of miles through ocean currents. This method of propagation has helped many species of plant such as the coconut colonize and establish themselves on previously barren islands. Consequently, drift seeds and fruits are of interest to scientists who study these currents.
Alnus acuminata is a species of deciduous tree in the Betulaceae family. It is found in montane forests from central Mexico to Argentina.
Brunellia is a genus of trees. They are distributed in the mountainous regions of southern Mexico, Central America, West Indies, and South America. Brunellia is the only genus in the family Brunelliaceae. As of 2001 there were about 54 species.
Magnolia hernandezii is a species of plant in the family Magnoliaceae. It is endemic to Colombia. The tree can attain a height of up to 40 m and trunk diameter approaching 1 m with smooth, light-brown or light-grey bark. It has a woody, globular fruit with up to 15 cm diameter.
Stenospermation is a genus of plant in family Araceae native to South America and Central America.
Neonicholsonia is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family native to Central America. The sole species is Neonicholsonia watsonii. The genus and species names honor George Nicholson, a former curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and his successor William Watson.
Callicarpa acuminata is a species of beautyberry native to Latin America from Mexico to Bolivia. Unlike the other species of this genus, C. acuminata produces small berry-like fruits which can be dark-purple or dark blue-purple. The fruit can sometimes be white. The flowers blooms are white. The fruit grow in tight clumps and sometimes resemble grapes. They are cultivated as garden trees.
Pitcairnia atrorubens is a species of flowering plant in Bromeliaceae family. It is native to Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, and western Mexico as far north as Nayarit.
Pyrus syriaca is a deciduous tree in the Rosaceae family. It is referred to by the common name Syrian pear. It is the only pear species which grows in the wild in Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Israel.
Yucca aloifolia is the type species for the genus Yucca. Common names include aloe yucca, dagger plant, and Spanish bayonet. It grows in sandy soils, especially on sand dunes along the coast.
Caryota mitis, known as the clustering fishtail palm or fishtail palm, is a species of palm native to Tropical Asia from India to Java to southern China, now sparingly naturalized in southern Florida and in parts of Africa and Latin America. The species was originally described from Vietnam in 1790. In Florida, it grows in hummocks and in disturbed wooded areas.
Trixis inula, the tropical threefold, is a plant species native to Texas, Mexico, Central America, northern South America, and the West Indies. It is found on open, sandy sites such as roadsides, thorn scrub, thickets, etc.
Jaltomata procumbens, the creeping false holly, is a plant species native to Arizona, USA, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. It grows as a weed in agricultural fields and other disturbed locations, but in many places the people protect it because of the edible fruits it produces.
Diastatea is a genus of plants native to Latin America, mostly in Mexico and Central America but with one species extending southward along the Andes to Argentina.
Dimerocostus is a group of plants in the Costaceae described as a genus in 1891. It is native to Central and South America.
Tagetes filifolia is a New World species of marigolds in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Latin America from northern Mexico to Argentina. Common name is Irish lace despite the fact that the plant does not grow in Ireland.