Ungnadia

Ungnadia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae containing one species, Ungnadia speciosa, the Mexican buckeye, a shrub or small tree native to northern Mexico as well as Texas and southern New Mexico in the United States.[2] The name honours Austrian ambassador Baron David von Ungnad, who brought the horse chestnut to Vienna in 1576, introducing the plant into western Europe.[3][4][5][6]

Mexican buckeye
Mexican Buckeye flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Subfamily: Sapindoideae
Genus: Ungnadia
Endl.[1]
Species:
U. speciosa
Binomial name
Ungnadia speciosa
Endl.[2]
Natural range

It differs from the buckeyes in the related genus Aesculus in having alternate, pinnate leaves with 5–9 leaflets, but the seeds and nuts are similar.[5] 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.[5]

References
  1. "Ungnadia Endl". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  2. "Ungnadia speciosa". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  3. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 4 R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2760. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
  4. Endlicher, Stephan. Enchiridion Botanicum. 1841. p. 565
  5. Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 544. ISBN 0394507614.
  6. Stephan Endlicher. Novarum stirpium decas I-X. 1839. page 75

Media related to Ungnadia at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Ungnadia speciosa at Wikispecies


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