Platonia
| Platonia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Clusiaceae |
| Genus: | Platonia |
| Species: | P. insignis |
| Binomial name | |
|
Platonia insignis Mart. |
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| Synonyms | |
|
Aristoclesia esculenta Stuntz |
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Aristoclesia esculenta Stuntz
Moronobea esculenta
Platonia esculenta (Arruda) Rickett & Stafleu
Platonia insignis, the sole species of the genus Platonia, is a tree of the family Clusiaceae native to South America in the humid forests of Brazil, Paraguay, parts of Colombia and northeast to Guyana; specially in Amazon Rainforest. Common names include bacuri (and numerous variant spellings thereof; bacurí, bacury, bakuri, pacuri, pakuri, pakouri, packoeri, pakoeri), maniballi, naranjillo and bacurizeiro.
There was a degree of nomenclatural confusion, caused by Moronobea esculenta. If that were validly published for this species the current name would be Platonia esculenta. It was established that Moronobea esculenta is not a formal name (not "validly published"), so the name remains Platonia insignis.
Platonia is related to Montrouziera from New Caledonia.
Platonia insignis is a dry-season deciduous tree, reaching 25–40 m high. It has a pyramidal crown and copious yellow latex in the bark. The leaves are opposite, simple oblong to elliptic, 8–15 cm long, and glossy dark green, with wavy margins and a leathery texture.
The flowers are 5–7 cm long and pink in color, with five petals and numerous stamens. The fruit is round to oval and 7–14 cm long, with a thick, yellow skin. It resembles a papaya. The rind exudes a yellow latex when pressed. The sticky white pulp is fragrant, with a taste that is both sweet and sour. There are 3 to 5 seeds.
The white-bellied parrot (Pionites leucogaster) is a pollinator of the plant, making it ornithophilous.
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Wikipedia