Malvaceae
Heliocarpus

Heliocarpus americanus L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 448 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Mexico to S. Tropical America. It is a tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is used as a medicine and for food.

Distribution

Native to:

Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela

Introduced into:

Hawaii, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Is.

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Classification

Kew's Tree of Life Explorer

Discover the flowering plant tree of life and the genomic data used to build it.

View the Tree of Life
PAFTOL

Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K., Rodríguez Delcid, D. & Olmedo Galán, P. (2016). Nova Silva Cuscatlantica. Parte 3: Angiospermae - Familias R a Z y Gymnospermae. Englera 29(3): 1-356.
  • Brako, L. & Zarucchi, J.L. (1993). Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i-xl, 1-1286. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Correa A., Mireya D. Galdames, Carmen Correa A., M. D., C. Galdames & M. S. de Stapf (2004). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Panamá: 1-599. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
  • Garcia-Mendoza, A.J. & Meave, J.A. (eds.) (2012). Diversidad florística de Oaxaca: de musgos a angiospermas (colecciones y listas de especies), ed. 2: 1-351. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
  • Jørgensen, P.M. & León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999). Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75: i-viii, 1-1181. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • López Patiño, E.J., Szeszko, D.R., Rascala Pérez, J. & Beltrán Retis, A.S. (2012). The flora of the Tenacingo-Malinalco-Zumpahuacán protected natural area, state of Mexico, Mexico. Harvard Papers in Botany 17: 65-167.
  • Monro, A.K., González, F., Santamaría, D., Chacón, O., Rodríguez, A., Solano, D. Zamora, N. & Correa, M. (2011). A first checklist to the vascular plants of La Amistad International Park (PILA), Costa Rica-Panama. Phytotaxa 322: 1-283.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

  • Kew’s Economic Botany collection in The State of the World’s Plants Report–2016. (2016). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew https://stateoftheworldsplants.org/2016/

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K., Rodríguez Delcid, D. & Olmedo Galán, P. (2016). Nova Silva Cuscatlantica. Parte 3: Angiospermae - Familias R a Z y Gymnospermae. Englera 29(3): 1-356.
  • Brako, L. & Zarucchi, J.L. (1993). Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 45: i-xl, 1-1286. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Forzza, R.C., Zappi, D. & Souza, V.C. (2016-continuously updated). Flora do Brasil 2020 em construção http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/listaBrasil/ConsultaPublicaUC/ResultadoDaConsultaNovaConsulta.do.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Jørgensen, P.M. & León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999). Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75: i-viii, 1-1181. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • López Patiño, E.J., Szeszko, D.R., Rascala Pérez, J. & Beltrán Retis, A.S. (2012). The flora of the Tenacingo-Malinalco-Zumpahuacán protected natural area, state of Mexico, Mexico. Harvard Papers in Botany 17: 65-167.
  • Monro, A.K., González, F., Santamaría, D., Chacón, O., Rodríguez, A., Solano, D. Zamora, N. & Correa, M. (2011). A first checklist to the vascular plants of La Amistad International Park (PILA), Costa Rica-Panama. Phytotaxa 322: 1-283.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Paña-Chocarro, M.C., Espada-Mateos, C., Vera, M., Céspedes, G. & Knapp, S. (2010). Updated checklist of vascular plants of the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve (Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayú), Paraguay. Phytotaxa 12: 1-224.
  • Stevens, W.D., Ulloa U., C., Pool, A. & Montiel, O.M. (2001). Flora de Nicaragua. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 85: i-xlii, 1-2666. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  • Villaseñor, J.L. (2016). Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  • Wagner, W.L., Herbst, D.R. & Sohmer, S.H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i, rev. ed., 2: 989-1918. University of Hawai'i Press, Bishop Museum Press.

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
  • IUCN (2021). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-2. https://www.iucnredlist.org.
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • RBG, Kew (2021). Kew Economic Botany Collection. https://ecbot.science.kew.org/
  • RBG, Kew (ed.) (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London.

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Feb 13, 2008 Estrada, A.; Sánchez, J.E.; Sánchez, J. [4128] Costa Rica K001907653 No
Feb 13, 2008 Estrada, A.; Sánchez, J.E.; Sánchez, J. [4128] Costa Rica K001907654 No
Feb 3, 2008 Estrada, A.; Sánchez, J.E.; Solano, J. [4110] Costa Rica K001612021 Yes
Jan 1, 2004 Cuatrecasa, J. [22509] Colombia K001486290 Yes
Linden, J. [857] Mexico K000381191 Unknown Type Material Yes
Bolivia K001486279 Yes
Ecuador K001486280 Yes
Ecuador K001486281 Yes
Ecuador K001486282 Yes
Ecuador K001486283 Yes
Ecuador K001486284 Yes
Ecuador K001486285 Yes
Ecuador K001486286 Yes
Ecuador K001486287 Yes
Ecuador K001486288 Yes
Venezuela K001486289 Yes
Peru K001486291 Yes
Peru K001486292 Yes
Peru K001486293 Yes
Peru K001486294 Yes
Peru K001486295 Yes
Peru K001486296 Yes
Peru K001486297 Yes
Bang, M. [2305] Bolivia Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381842 Unknown Type Material Yes
Hassler, E. [430] Paraguay Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381848 Unknown Type Material Yes
Spruce, R. [s.n.] Peru Heliocarpus popayanensis K000201203 Yes
Hassler, E. [557] Paraguay Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381847 Type Yes
Bang, M. [1491] Bolivia Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381843 Unknown Type Material Yes
Hassler, E. [557] Paraguay Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381846 Type Yes
Spruce, R. [Fruit of4558(?or something of an allied species)] Peru Heliocarpus popayanensis K000110433 Yes
Colombia Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381845 Unknown Type Material Yes
Spruce, R. [4558?] Peru Heliocarpus popayanensis K000110430 Yes
Bang, M. [1455] Bolivia Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381844 Unknown Type Material Yes
Spruce, R. [4558?] Peru Heliocarpus popayanensis K000110429 Yes
Smith, H.H. [1908] Colombia Heliocarpus popayanensis K000381841 Unknown Type Material Yes

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible

    • ColPlantA 2021. Published on the Internet at http://colplanta.org
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0