| Melicoccus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Melicoccus bijugatus fruit | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Sapindaceae |
| Subfamily: | Sapindoideae |
| Genus: | Melicoccus P.Browne[1] |
| Species | |
See text | |
Melicoccus is a genus of ten species offlowering plants in the familySapindaceae, native to tropical regions of northern and westernSouth America.[2]
They areevergreentrees growing to 30 metres (98 ft) tall, with alternatepinnateleaves with 4 or 6 oppositeleaflets (no terminal leaflet). The fruit is adrupe. Several species, but principallyM. bijugatus, are widely cultivated in their native areas and elsewhere inCentral America and theCaribbean for their fruit.
Some species of the related genusTalisia are sometimes included inMelicoccus.
The genusMelicoccus was first described byPatrick Browne, an Irish doctor and botanist, in 1756. This description was based onM. bijugatus trees which were cultivated in Jamaica. In 1760,Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin described the first species in Browne's genus, which he namedM. bijugatus. In 1762 Linnaeus used a spelling variation of the nameMelicocca bijuga. Over the next two centuries, Linnaeus' spelling variation was used in almost all publications. A proposal was made in 1994 to conserveMelicocca overMelicoccus, but the proposal was rejected, leading to a restoration of the original version of the name.[2]
In 1888 German taxonomistLudwig Radlkofer placedMelicoccus in the tribe Melicocceae together with eight other genera. In his monograph on the Neotropical members of the tribe (Talisia andMelicoccus) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez suggested that althoughTalisia andMelicoccus appeared to form amonophyletic group, the other (Old World) genera probably did not belong to the same lineage.[2]
Media related toMelicoccus at Wikimedia Commons
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