Byrsonima

Plant Characteristics

Lifespan:	⌛	perennial

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Malpighiaceae >

Byrsonima >

H.B.K. >

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Byrsonima is one of about 75 genera in the Malpighiaceae, a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. In particular in American English, they are known as locustberries (which also may refer specifically to the Long Key Locustberry, B. lucida). Another widely seen common name is serrets or serrettes.

Byrsonima comprises over 135 species of trees, shrubs, and subshrubs found in the New World tropics and subtropics from southern Mexico, southeastern Florida, and the Caribbean to southeastern Brazil. The plants have entire leaves, yellow flowers, and fleshy, edible fruits called nance; B. crassifolia in particular is known by that name, as it is an underutilized crop of some commercial importance in Latin America.

Read about Byrsonima in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Byrsonima (name refers to use of some species in tanning, in Brazil). Malpighiaceae. Perhaps 100 Trop. American trees and shrubs, frequently climbing, rarely known in cult. Lvs. opposite, thick, simple, entire, the stipules often connate: fls. white, yellow or pink, in terminal simple or branched racemes; sepals and petals 5, the former bearing a pair of glands, the latter clawed and the blades concave; stamens 10, the filaments united at base and bearded: fr. a 3-celled fleshy drupe, with bony seeds, often edible. B. lucida, HBK., occurs in Fla. and W. Indies, a much-branched evergreen shrub, with fls. white turning yellowish or rose; apparently not in the trade. B. crassifolia, HBK. Mex. and S., is offered in S. Callf. Shrub or small tree: Lvs. ovate, tapering each way: fls. yellow in pubescent erect racemes. Said to bear the nanche," a popular fruit of the Mexicans. This has a sour fermented taste; it is offered for sale in the markets of the west coast Mexican towns, and is eaten raw with salt, or in soups, or in stuffing for meats. The astringent bark, rich in tannin, is used medicinally. 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 It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article.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

Species

Selected species:

• Byrsonima basiloba A.Juss.
• Byrsonima coccolobifolia (Spreng.) Kunth
• Byrsonima coriacea (L.) Kunth
• Byrsonima crassa Nied.
• Byrsonima crassifolia – Nance, Savanna Serrette, Golden Spoon, murici, muruci (Brazil), nanche (Mexico)
• Byrsonima crispa
• Byrsonima cydonaefolia A.Juss.
• Byrsonima horneana
• Byrsonima intermedia A.Juss.
• Byrsonima laxiflora Griseb.
• Byrsonima laevigata (Poir.) DC.
• Brysonima lucida – Long Key Locustberry, Shiny Locustberry
• Byrsonima myricifolia Griseb.
• Byrsonima ophiticola
• Byrsonima sericea A.Juss.
• Brysonima spicata – Maricao
• Byrsonima subterranea Brade et Markgr.
• Byrsonima tuberosa
• Byrsonima variabilis A.Juss.
• Byrsonima verbascifolia (L.) Rich. ex A.Juss.Template:Verify source

Gallery

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  Nance fruit from B. crassifolia

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  photo 1

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  photo 2

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  photo 3

References

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

External links

• w:Byrsonima. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Byrsonima QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)