''Balanites'' is an
Afrotropical,
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
and
Indomalayan genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the
caltrop family,
Zygophyllaceae. The name ''Balanites'' derives from the Greek word for an
acorn
The acorn is the nut (fruit), nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'', ''Notholithocarpus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains a seedling surrounded by two cotyledons (seedling leaves), en ...
and refers to the fruit. It was coined by
Alire Delile in 1813.
Species
The following species are included in the genus ''Balanites'':
* ''
Balanites aegyptiaca''
( L.) Delile
*''
Balanites angolensis''
(Welw.) Mildbr. & Schltr.
*''
Balanites glabra''
Mildbr. & Schltr.
* ''
Balanites maughamii''
Sprague
*''
Balanites pedicellaris''
Mildbr. & Schltr.
*''
Balanites rotundifolia
''Balanites rotundifolia'', known in Swahili as Mbamba ngoma is a spiny bush or small tree from eastern Africa and southern Arabia. It is a member of the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae.
Description
''Balanites rotundifolia'' is a small tree o ...
''
(Tiegh.) Blatt.
* ''
Balanites roxburghii''
Planch.
*''
Balanites triflora''
Tiegh.
*''
Balanites wilsoniana''
Dawe & Sprague
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Zygophyllales genera