''Pisonia'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

four o'clock flower ''Mirabilis jalapa'', the marvel of Peru or four o'clock flower, is the most commonly grown ornamental species of ''Mirabilis'' plant, and is available in a range of colors. ''Mirabilis'' in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa (or Xalapa) is the st ...

family,

Nyctaginaceae Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a unique fruit t ...

. It was named for

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

physician and naturalist

Willem Piso Willem Piso (in Dutch Willem Pies, in Latin Gulielmus Piso, also called Guilherme Piso in Portuguese) (1611 in Leiden – 28 November 1678 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch physician and naturalist who participated as an expedition doctor in D ...

(1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees or birdlime trees because they catch birds. The sticky seeds are postulated to be an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

of some island species that ensures the dispersal of seeds between islands by attaching them to birds, and also allows the enriching of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

line sands. (Should a fledgling fall to the ground, become entangled in the ''Pisonia'' sticky seeds, and be unable to free itself, then it will starve, and so enrich the soil within the tree's rootzone.) These island species include '' P. brunoniana'' of

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

and '' P. umbellifera'', which is widespread in the tropical

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region.

Species

*''

Pisonia aculeata ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...

'' L. – pullback (

pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers Tropics, tropical regions of both hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical'' is a zoogeogra ...

) *''

Pisonia alba ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...

'' Span. *''

Pisonia albida ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher tree ...

'' (Heimerl) Britton ex

Standl. Paul Carpenter Standley (March 21, 1884 – June 2, 1963) was an American botanist known for his work on neotropical plants. __TOC__ Standley was born on March 21, 1884 in Avalon, Missouri. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri an ...

– corcho bobo *''

Pisonia brunoniana ''Pisonia brunoniana'' is a species of flowering tree in the family Nyctaginaceae that is native to New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and Hawaii. The common names in New Zealand are parapara or birdcatcher tree. Description ''Piso ...

Endl. Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher also known as Endlicher István László (24 June 1804, Pressburg, Bratislava (Pozsony) – 28 March 1849, Vienna) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian botanist, numismatist and Sinologist. He was a director of the Botan ...

– Australasian catchbirdtree (

and

) *''

Pisonia capitata ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher tree ...

'' ( S.Watson) Standl. – Mexican devil's-claws *''

Pisonia donnellsmithii ''Pisonia donnellsmithii'' is a species of plant in the family Nyctaginaceae. It is found in El Salvador and Guatemala. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by ...

'' Heimerl ex Standl. (

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

) *''

Pisonia ekmani ''Pisonia ekmani'' is a species of plant in the Nyctaginaceae family. It is endemic to Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as ...

'' Heimerl (Cuba) *''

Pisonia excelsa ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...

'' Blume *''

Pisonia floribunda ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...

'' Hook. f. pega pega (

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

) *''

Pisonia floridana ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees o ...

'' Britt. ex

Small Small may refer to: Science and technology * SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language * Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back * ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication * <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...

– Rock Key devil's-claws *'' Pisonia graciliscens'' (Heimerl) Stenmerik (

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

) *''

Pisonia grandis ''Pisonia grandis'', the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the ''Bougainvillea'' family, Nyctaginaceae. Description The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that matur ...

'' R.Br. – grand devil's-claws (

) *'' Pisonia horneae'' (named after

Frances W. Horne Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

, 1873–1967) (Puerto Rico, Northern Karst and the Sierra de Cayey) *''

Pisonia notundata ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Mirabilis jalapa, four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch Republic, Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as c ...

Griseb. August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach () was a German botany, botanist and phytogeography, phytogeographer. He was born in Hannover on 17 April 1814 and died in Göttingen on 9 May 1879. Biography Grisebach studied at the Lyceum in Hanover, the clo ...

– smooth devil's-claws *'' Pisonia roqueae'' (named after Ana Roqué de Duprey, 1853–1933) (Puerto Rico, Central Mountain Range and the Luquillo Mountains) *'' Pisonia sechellarum'' F.Friedmann (

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

) *'' Pisonia siphonocarpa'' (Heimerl) Stenmerik (French Polynesia) *''

Pisonia subcordata ''Pisonia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. It was named for Dutch physician and naturalist Willem Piso (1611–1678). Certain species in this genus are known as catchbirdtrees, birdcatcher trees ...

'' Sw. – water mampoo *''

Pisonia umbellifera ''Ceodes umbellifera'', synonym ''Pisonia umbellifera'', commonly known as the birdlime tree or bird catcher tree, is a species of plant in the Nyctaginaceae family. The evergreen shrub has soft wood, small pink or yellow flowers, and produces cav ...

'' (

J.R.Forst. Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...

G.Forst. Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold F ...

)

Seem. Berthold Carl Seemann (25 February 1825, in Hanover, Germany – 10 October 1871, in Nicaragua, Central America), was a German botanist. He travelled widely and collected and described plants from the Pacific and South America. In 1844 he trave ...

– umbrella catchbirdtree (Indo-Pacific) *'' Pisonia wagneriana'' Fosberg – Kauai catchbirdtree, ''pāpala kēpau'' (island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

) *'' Pisonia zapallo'' Griseb.

Formerly placed here

* '' Guapira discolor'' (Spreng.) Little (as ''P. discolor'' Spreng.) * '' Rockia sandwicensis'' Heimerl (as ''P. sandwicensis'' )

Gallery

File:Pisonia alba (Lettuce tree) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 0470.jpg, ''

'' in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, India File:Pisonia alba (Lettuce tree) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 0469.jpg, ''Pisonia alba'' in Hyderabad

References

{{Caryophyllales-stub