Cymbopetalum penduliflorum

Plant Characteristics

Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Read about Cymbopetalum penduliflorum in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Cymbopetalum penduliflorum, Baill. Xochinacaztli. Teonacaztli. Sacred Earflower of the Aztecs. Orejuela. Flor De La Oreja. Mexican Earflower. Figs. 1186, 1187. A shrub or small tree with distichous, membranaceous, subsessile Ivs. oblanceolate in form, sub- cordate and usually unequal at the base, acute at the apex: solitary fls. borne on long slender peduncles issuing from the internodes of the smaller branches: sepals broadly ovate or suborbicular, cuspidate, reflexed at length; outer petals similar to the sepals but much larger; inner petals thick and fleshy, their margin involute, causing them to resemble a human ear.— The pungently aromatic fls. when fresh are greenish yellow, with the inner surface of the inner petals inclining to orange-color, at length turning brownish purple or maroon, breaking with a bright orange-colored fracture. The tree is planted for the sake of its fragrant fls., the petals of which are dried and are used medicinally as well as for imparting a spicy flavor to food. They were used by the ancient Mexicans before the intro. of cinnamon and other spices from the E. Indies for flavoring their chocolate. Though described by Hernandez more than two centuries ago, the botanical identity of the xochinacaztli remained unknown until quite recently (see Smithsonian Report for 1910, pp. 427-431, 1911). This species is native of the mts. of S. Mex. and Guatemala. A closely related species, C. stenophyllum, Donnell Smith, was discovered by Capt. John Donnell Smith in the Dept. of Quetzal- tenango, Guatemala; and another species, C. costaricense, Safford (Asimina costaricensis, Donnell Smith) was collected by Adolfo Tonduz in the Dept. of Talamanca, Costa Rica, in April, 1894. Steps have been taken by the Bureau of Plant Industry to intro. into the U. S. C. penduliflorum, seeds of which have been sent from Guatemala by the American Consul-General, George A. Bucklin. The other Cent. American species, as well as C. brasiliense, recently collected by Henry Pittier in Venezuela, are equally worthy of cult. in greenhouses and in the warmer regions of Fla., Calif. and the Island possessions. W. E. Safford. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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