Mexican Buckeye
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Ungnadia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae containing one species, ''Ungnadia speciosa'', the Mexican buckeye. It is native to northern Mexico, as well as Texas and southern New Mexico in the United States. The name honours Austrian ambassador Baron David Ungnad von Sonnegg, David von Ungnad, who brought the Aesculus hippocastanum, horse chestnut to Vienna in 1576, introducing the plant into western Europe. It differs from the buckeyes in the related genus ''Aesculus'' but the seeds and nut (fruit), nuts are similar. Another similar related genus is the soapberry (genus ''Sapindus''). ''Ungnadia'' seeds are poisonous despite their sweetness, and sometimes used as marbles. The foliage is toxic and rarely browsed by livestock, but bees produce honey from the floral nectar.


Description

''Ungnadia speciosa'' a deciduous shrub or small tree (< 25 ft) that is often multi Trunk (botany), trunked. The leaf, leaves (5 – 12 in) are alternate and pinnately compound with 5 - 9 leaflets. The leaflets are long (3 – 5 in), narrow, and pointed with slight serrations.


References


External links


Benny Simpson's Texas Native ShrubsLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Trees of Chihuahua (state) Trees of Coahuila Trees of the South-Central United States Trees of Nuevo León Trees of Tamaulipas Monotypic Sapindaceae genera Sapindaceae {{rosid-tree-stub