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- ›Lecythis Family
Lecythis
Lecythis ( LESS-ith-iss) is a genus of woody plants in the Lecythidaceae family first described as a genus in 1758. It is native to Central America and South America. Several species produce edible seeds and referred to by a variety of common names including paradise nut, monkey pot, cream nut, and sapucaia nut.
A phylogenetic study published in 2024 by Vargas et al. concluded that Lecythis was polyphyletic. The authors proposed leaving the core Ollaria clade in Lecythis, and placing the Poiteau and Chartacea sections of Lecythis in a revived Chytroma, the Pisonis section in a reinstated Pachylecythis, and the Corrugata clade in the new genus Guaiania.
25 branches of this genus, most-observed first

monkey pot
speciesLecythis pisonis

Lecythis minor
speciesLecythis minor

Lecythis ampla
speciesLecythis ampla

Lecythis tuyrana
speciesLecythis tuyrana

Lecythis lurida
speciesLecythis lurida

Lecythis persistens
speciesLecythis persistens

Lecythis zabucajo
speciesLecythis zabucajo

Lecythis corrugata
speciesLecythis corrugata

Lecythis poiteaui
speciesLecythis poiteaui

Lecythis lanceolata
speciesLecythis lanceolata

Lecythis mesophylla
speciesLecythis mesophylla

Lecythis idatimon
speciesLecythis idatimon

Lecythis pneumatophora
speciesLecythis pneumatophora

Lecythis marcgraaviana
speciesLecythis marcgraaviana

Lecythis ollaria
speciesLecythis ollaria

Lecythis retusa
speciesLecythis retusa

Lecythis brancoensis
speciesLecythis brancoensis

Lecythis confertiflora
speciesLecythis confertiflora

Lecythis ibiriba
speciesLecythis ibiriba

Lecythis prancei
speciesLecythis prancei

Lecythis chartacea
speciesLecythis chartacea

Lecythis barnebyi
speciesLecythis barnebyi

Lecythis parvifructa
speciesLecythis parvifructa

Lecythis gracieana
speciesLecythis gracieana
Lecythis oldemanii
speciesLecythis oldemanii
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Lecythis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 83446.