''Sweetia fruticosa'' is a species 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

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

family,

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It is a tree native to eastern, southern, and west-central Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina. It is the only member of the genus ''Sweetia'' (though some sources also include ''Sweetia atrata'' Mohlenbr.). It belongs to the subfamily

Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family. This subfamily is widely ...

. It was traditionally assigned to the tribe

Sophoreae The tribe (biology), tribe Sophoreae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family (biology), family Fabaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphic, rather t ...

, mainly on the basis of flower morphology; recent

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analyses assigned ''Sweetia fruticosa'' into an informal, monophyletic clade called the "

vataireoids The vataireoids are an early-branching monophyly, monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae (or Papilionaceae) that are mostly found in northern South America, primarily Brazil. Description This clade is composed of four gene ...

References

Faboideae Monotypic Fabaceae genera Flora of Northeast Brazil Flora of Southeast Brazil Flora of South Brazil Flora of West-Central Brazil Flora of Bolivia Flora of Paraguay Flora of Northeast Argentina Plants described in 1825 {{Faboideae-stub