''Parkinsonia'' , also ''Cercidium'' , is a genus of
flowering plants in the
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
family,
. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi-
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
regions of
Africa and the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
. The name of the genus honors
English apothecary and botanist
John Parkinson (1567–1650).
They are large
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s or small
trees growing to tall,
dry season deciduous, with sparse, open,
thorny crowns and green bark. The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are
pinnate, sometimes bipinnate, with numerous small
leaflets; they are only borne for a relatively short time after rains, with much of the
photosynthesis carried out by the green twigs and branches. The
flowers are symmetrical or nearly so, with five yellow or white
petal
Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...
s. The
fruit is a
pod
Pod or POD may refer to:
Biology
* Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant
* Husk or pod of a legume
* Pod of whales or other marine mammals
* "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy
Electronics and computing
* Proper ort ...
containing several
seeds.
Most American species are known by the common name of palo verde or paloverde, from the
Spanish words meaning "green pole" or "green stick". This name is derived from its characteristic green
trunk
Trunk may refer to:
Biology
* Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso
* Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure
* Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy
* Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant
Computing
* Trunk (software), in rev ...
. The palo verde (not species-specific) is the state tree of
Arizona.
Ecology
A major pollinator for ''Parkinsonia'' species in the southwestern United States and western Mexico is ''
Centris pallida
''Centris pallida'' is a species of solitary bee native to North America. It lacks an accepted common name; however, it has been called the digger bee, the desert bee, and the pallid bee due to its actions, habitat, and color respectively. The s ...
'', a solitary bee known as the digger or pallid bee. ''C. pallida'' obtains nectar and pollen from this plant to fill a brood pot so that their larvae will have food when they hatch. The nectar and pollen give its
bee bread
Bee pollen, also known as bee bread and ambrosia, is a ball or pellet of field-gathered flower pollen packed by worker honeybees, and used as the primary food source for the hive. It consists of simple sugars, protein, minerals and vitamins, ...
a strong orange color.
Selected species
*''
Parkinsonia aculeata
''Parkinsonia aculeata'' is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include palo verde, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jerusalem thorn, jelly bean tree, palo de rayo, and retama.
Etymology
The genus name ...
''
L. – Mexican palo verde (Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of the United States and Mexico and southward to
Argentina;
Galápagos Islands)
*''
Parkinsonia africana
''Parkinsonia africana'', the green-hair tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southern Angola, Botswana, and Namibia, and the Cape Provinces and Northern Provinces of South Africa. It is a bush growing 1–3m ta ...
''
Sond. (
Botswana,
Namibia,
South Africa)
*''
Parkinsonia anacantha
''Parkinsonia'' , also ''Cercidium'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi-desert regions of Africa and the Americas. The name of the genus honors English apothecary ...
''
Brenan
Brenan is a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Gerald Brenan (1894 – 1987), British writer and Hispanist
* James Brenan (1837 – 1907), Irish artist
* Ryan Brenan (1798 – 1868), Australian politician fr ...
(
Kenya)
*''
Parkinsonia andicola
''Parkinsonia'' , also ''Cercidium'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi-desert regions of Africa and the Americas. The name of the genus honors English apothecary ...
''
(Griseb.) S.Watson
Sereno Watson (December 1, 1826 in East Windsor Hill, Connecticut – March 9, 1892 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American botanist.
Graduating from Yale in 1847 in Biology, he drifted through various occupations until, in California, he j ...
(syn. ''Cercidium andicola'')
*''
Parkinsonia carterae''
(Western
Mexico south to
Ecuador)
*''
Parkinsonia florida''
(Benth.
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...
ex A.Gray
Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His '' Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually exc ...
) S.Watson (syn. ''Cercidium floridum'') – blue palo verde (
Southern California,
Arizona, northwestern
Mexico)
*''
Parkinsonia microphylla
''Parkinsonia microphylla'', the yellow paloverde, foothill paloverde or little-leaved palo verde; syn. ''Cercidium microphyllum''), is a species of palo verde.
It is native to the Southwestern United States in southeastern California and so ...
''
Torr. (syn. ''Cercidium microphyllum'') – foothill palo verde (
Southern California,
Arizona, northwestern Mexico)
*''
Parkinsonia praecox
''Parkinsonia'' , also ''Cercidium'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi- desert regions of Africa and the Americas. The name of the genus honors English apothecar ...
''
( Ruiz & Pav.) J.A.Hawkins (syn. ''Cercidium praecox'') – brea, verde olivo (Northwest Mexico and South America - south to Argentina)
*''
Parkinsonia raimondoi
''Parkinsonia raimondoi'' is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to Somalia. It is threatened by habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which ...
''
Brenan (
Somalia)
*''
Parkinsonia scioana
''Parkinsonia'' , also ''Cercidium'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi-desert regions of Africa and the Americas. The name of the genus honors English apothecary ...
''
(Chiov.
__NOTOC__
''Emilio Chiovenda'' (18 May 1871 – 19 February 1941) was an Italian botanist.
Chiovenda was born in Rome in 1871 to a family originating from rural Piedmont. He was educated at the Collegio Rosmini in Stresa and Domodossola College be ...
) Brenan (
Djibouti,
Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya)
*''
Parkinsonia texana
''Parkinsonia texana'' is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, native to Texas and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, and Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign St ...
''
(A.Gray) S.Watson (syn. ''Cercidium texanum'') – Texas palo verde (Texas, northeastern Mexico)
**''Parkinsonia texana'' var. ''macra''
(I.M.Johnst.
I. M. (Ivan Murray) Johnston (February 28, 1898–May 31, 1960), was a United States Botany, botanist. He studied at Pomona College in Claremont, California and at Harvard University. His plant collections are housed in the ''Rancho Santa Ana Bot ...
) Isely
**''Parkinsonia texana'' var. ''texana''
References
ILDIS Legume index: ''Parkinsonia''
External links
*
*
USDA PLANTS Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1826576
Fabaceae genera
Caesalpinioideae