Chiranthodendron
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| Chiranthodendron pentadactylon Larreategui |
Chiranthodendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, comprising a single species of tree, Chiranthodendron pentadactylon, often called the "Devil's hand tree", "monkey's hand tree", or "Mexican hand tree" (or some variant thereof) for the distinct shape of its flowers, which resemble an open human hand.
This species is native to Guatemala and southern Mexico. The leaves are large and shallowly lobed, with a brown indumentum on the underside. The distinctive flowers appear in late spring and early summer; the five stamens are long, curved upward, and bright red, giving the distinct impression of a clawed hand.
It was originally described from a single cultivated specimen grown in Toluca in the Toluca Valley, well outside the native range. The Aztecs revered the tree, and picked every bloom annually to prevent it from reproducing.
It is closely related to Fremontodendron, sufficiently to produce an intergeneric hybrid x Chiranthofremontia lenzii Henrickson, which has yellow flowers and a reduced form of the claw.
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