Pachira is a genus of tropical trees distributed in Central and South America and the Caribbean, ranging from Mexico to Bolivia and southern Brazil. They are classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Previously the genus was assigned to Bombacaceae.IABIN Prior to that the genus was found in the (now obsolete) Sterculiaceae.
54 species are currently accepted.Plant systematics: Pachira 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.
History Although first named Pachira by Jean Baptiste Aublet in 1775. The genus name is derived from a language spoken in Guyana.Helmut Genaust (1983): Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen, 2. Auflage. Birkhäuser Verlag – Carl Linnaeus the Younger unaware of this separately is said to have called the genus Carolinea after Princess (or Marchioness) "Sophia Caroline of Baden" in 1782.The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language, Ogilvie, J. (ed.) 1883 Pachira p. 351.Loudon's Hortus britannicus: A catalogue of all the plants indigenous, cultivated in, or introduced to Britain. London, 1830. I: 292Loudon JC. An encyclopædia of plants. Longman London 1836, p. 592Lindley and Moore. The treasury of botany, Longmans, London 1866. Pachira p. 833 The principle of precedence gives the authority to Pachira.
The Margrave of Baden, Karl Wilhelm (1709 – 1738) founded the Karlsruhe Palace (Karlsruher Schloß) in 1715. He had a considerable interest in botany, particularly the exotic, and had large numbers of trees imported for the Palace Gardens (Schloßgarten). He was succeeded by his Grandson, Karl Friedrich (1738 - 1811) who married Princess Karoline Luise von Hessen-Darmstadt (1723 - 1783) in 1751. Karoline Luise was a noted botanist. She corresponded with Carl von Linné (Linnaeus), cultivated numerous plants in the palace gardens, had engravings of them made for a book and had them all classified according to Linnaeus' system. Linnaeus' son, Carl Linnaeus the younger, recognised her contributions by naming one of the trees, Pachira aquatica (German: Glückskastanie) Carolinea princeps after her.
Commercial use Timber, cordage and seeds for stuffing pillows and cushions.Brande and Cox (eds.) A dictionary of science, literature, & art. Longmans, London 1866 Pachira II: 761
Species 54 species are accepted.
Pachira amazonica Pachira aquatica Aubl. (syn. P. macrocarpa) Pachira aracamuniana Pachira brevipes Pachira calophylla Pachira cearensis Pachira condorensis Pachira coriacea Pachira cowanii Pachira cubensis Pachira deflexifolia Pachira dolichocalyx Pachira duckei Pachira dugandeana Pachira emarginata A. Rich. Pachira endecaphylla Pachira faroensis Pachira flaviflora Pachira fuscolepidota Pachira glabra Pasq. Pachira gracilis Pachira humilis Pachira inaequalivalvis Pachira insignis (Sw.) Savigny Pachira liesneri Pachira macrocalyx Pachira manausensis Pachira mawarinumae Pachira minor Pachira morae Pachira moreirae Pachira mutisiana Pachira nervosa Pachira nitida Pachira nukakica Pachira obovata Pachira orinocensis (A.Robyns) W.S.Alverson Pachira paraensis Pachira patinoi Pachira pseudofaroensis Pachira pulchra Pachira punga-schunkei Pachira quinata (Jacq.) W.S.Alverson Pachira retusa Pachira robynsii Pachira rupicola Pachira rurrenabaqueana Pachira sessilis Benth. Pachira sordida Pachira speciosa Pachira subandina Pachira tepuiensis Pachira tocantina Pachira trinitensis Pachira yapacanae
Formerly placed here Pseudobombax grandiflorum (Cav.) A.Robyns (as P. cyathophora Casar.)
References
Further reading
New Species and Combinations of Catostemma and Pachira (Bombacaceae) from the Venezuelan Guayana. William S. Alverson. Novon Vol. 4, No. 1 (Spring, 1994), pp. 3-8 Don G. A general system of gardening and botany: containing a complete enumeration and description of all plants hitherto known with their generic and specific characters, places of growth, time of flowering, mode of culture and their uses in medicine and domestic economy : preceded by introductions to the linnaean and natural systems and a glossary of the terms used; founded upon Miller's Gardener's dictionary and arranged according to the natural system; in four volumes. London 1831. Carolinea I: 510