Beaucarnea

Beaucarnea
Beaucarnea pliabilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Nolinoideae
Genus: Beaucarnea
Lem.
Synonyms[1]

Pincenectitia Lem.

Beaucarnea is a genus of flowering plants native to Mexico and Central America.[1] In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae[2]). Beaucarnea is sometimes treated as a synonym of the genus Nolina, with the species being then transferred to that genus.

The species are small tropical xerophytic trees growing to 6-10 m tall, with a trunk 20-40 cm diameter with a flared base; young plants are single-stemmed, branching only after flowering. The leaves are evergreen, linear, strap-shaped, 0.5-1.8 m long and 1.5-2 cm broad, leathery in texture, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are produced only on old trees, forming on large panicles 75-110 cm long, the individual flowers numerous but very small (1.5 mm diameter), greenish-white, with six tepals.

Species
  1. Beaucarnea compacta L.Hern. & Zamudio - Guanajuato
  2. Beaucarnea goldmanii Rose - Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador
  3. Beaucarnea gracilis Lem. - Puebla, Oaxaca
  4. Beaucarnea guatemalensis Rose - Guatemala, Nicaragua
  5. Beaucarnea hiriartiae L.Hern. - México State, Guerrero
  6. Beaucarnea pliabilis (Baker) Rose - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Yucatán Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize
  7. Beaucarnea recurvata Lem. - Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Veracruz
  8. Beaucarnea sanctomariana L.Hern. - Oaxaca
  9. Beaucarnea stricta Lem. - Oaxaca

References

  1. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L. & Fay, M.F. (2009), "A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 132–136, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x
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