Scientific name Dipteryx Rank Genus | ||
 | ||
Lower classifications Tonka beans, Dipteryx alata, Dipteryx charapilla | ||
Dipteryx garden plants
Dipteryx is a genus containing nine species of shrubs and trees. It belongs to the "papilionoid" subfamily – Faboideae – of the legume family (Fabaceae). This genus is native to South and Central America and the Caribbean. Formerly, the related genus Taralea was included in Dipteryx.
Contents
The largest members of Dipteryx are canopy-emergent tree of tropical rainforests. The Tonka Bean (C. odorata) is grown for its fragrant seeds. Baru (Dipteryx alata) is a Vulnerable species from the Cerrado of Brazil; its fruit and seeds are used as food and fodder. Several species are used for timber.
Dipteryx can be distinguished from other members of the Dipterygeae by:
asymmetric leaflets as a result of the eccentric primary vein, a drupaceous fruit, seeds with a coriaceous testa, a hilum in lateral or subapical position and a rugose embryo with conspicuous plumule.
Species
The species of Dipteryx are: