Parinari Explained

Parinari is a genus of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae.

Species of genus Parinari are found in Subsaharan Africa from Senegal to Sudan and Kenya and south to Namibia and Natal; in Eastern Madagascar; from Indochina through Indonesia, New Guinea, northern Queensland, and the southwest Pacific; and in Central and South America from Costa Rica to Trinidad and southern Brazil. The oldest fossils of Parinari fruits are from the early Miocene of Ethiopia, Panama, and Colombia.

The genus is closely related to Neocarya.^[1]

Parinari can be distinguished from other genera in Chrysobalanaceae by the following characteristics:^[2]

• zygomorphic floral symmetry
• 6-10 unilaterally-attached stamens per flower
• ovary at side or mouth of receptacle-tube
• leaf lower surface lanate and with hair-filled stomatal cavities and parallel secondaries closely spaced
• pair of glands on leaf petiole
• large, woody fruits

Species

The Plant List recognises 42 accepted species (including infraspecific names):

• Parinari alvimii
• Parinari anamensis – Annamese burada
• Parinari argenteo-sericea
• Parinari brasiliensis
• Parinari campestris
• Parinari canarioides
• Parinari capensis – Dwarf mobola plum
• Parinari cardiophylla
• Parinari chocoensis
• Parinari congensis
• Parinari congolana
• Parinari costata
  • • • • subsp. polyneura subsp. rubiginosa Parinari curatellifolia – Mobola plum
• Parinari elmeri
• Parinari excelsa – Guinea plum
• Parinari gigantea
• Parinari hypochrysea
• Parinari insularum
• Parinari klugii
• Parinari leontopitheci
• Parinari littoralis
• Parinari maguirei
• Parinari metallica
• Parinari montana
• Parinari nonda – Nonda plum
• Parinari oblongifolia
• Parinari obtusifolia
• Parinari occidentalis
• Parinari pachyphylla
• Parinari panamensis
• Parinari papuana
  • • subsp. salomonensis Parinari parilis
• Parinari parva
• Parinari parvifolia
• Parinari prancei
• Parinari rigida
• Parinari rodolphii
• Parinari romeroi
• Parinari sprucei
• Parinari sumatrana

Notes and References

1. Chave . Jérôme . Prance . Ghillean T. . Sothers . Cynthia A. . Dexter . Kyle G. . Chamagne . Juliette . Bardon . Léa . 2013-01-01 . Origin and evolution of Chrysobalanaceae: insights into the evolution of plants in the Neotropics . Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . en . 171 . 1 . 19–37 . 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01289.x . 0024-4074. free .
2. Encyclopedia: Prance . G.T. . Sothers . C. . Milliken . W. . Klitgård . B. . Baracat . A. . Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics . Neotropical Chrysobalanaceae . 2019-09-17 . en . 2009 . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.