Oecopetalum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Metteniusaceae, native to Mexico and Central America. They are trees with edible fruits, and prefer to grow in the transition zone between cloud forests and tropical forests. Locals collect, roast, consume and occasionally sell the fruit, which is bitter enough to give Oecopetalum mexicanum the name cachichín in the Totonaca language, meaning "bitter fruit".[2]
| Oecopetalum | |
|---|---|
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| Roasted seeds of Oecopetalum mexicanum, here given as cacaté | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Metteniusales |
| Family: | Metteniusaceae |
| Genus: | Oecopetalum Greenm. & C.H.Thomps.[1] |
| Species | |
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See text | |
Species
editCurrently accepted species include:[3]
- Oecopetalum greenmanii Standl. & Steyerm.
- Oecopetalum mexicanum Greenm. & C.H.Thomps.
References
edit- ^ Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 1: 408 (1914)
- ^ Duno, Rodrigo; Stull, Gregory; Can, Lilia Lorena; Avendaño-Reyes, Sergio; Lascurain-Rangel, Maite; Angulo, Diego Francisco; Hernández Urban, Humberto Adrian (2019). "Systematics and phylogeny of Oecopetalum (Metteniusaceae), a genus of trees endemic to North and Central America". Revista de Biología Tropical. 67 (4). doi:10.15517/rbt.v67i4.33367.
- ^ "Oecopetalum Greenm. & C.H.Thomps". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2020.