Flora of North America species comparison

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Ximenia americana

Ximenia

hog plum, sea lemon, Spanish plum, spiny plum, tallow wood, yellow plum

hog plum, ximenia
Habit Shrubs or small trees, long shoots vegetative, short shoots fertile, arising from leaf axils of long shoots, each paired with a thorn.
Stems

glabrous.
Leaves

densely fascicled on short shoots, subcoriaceous, surfaces glabrous or puberulent.
Inflorescences

bracts 0 or 2–4 at pedicel bases.
Pedicels

present.
Flowers

sepals minute, not accrescent in fruit;

petals glabrous or puberulent abaxially, densely hairy adaxially;

ovary elongate-conic or lanceoloid.
Drupes

yellow, orange, pink, or red, ellipsoid, oblong-ovoid, or globose.
x

= 12.

Ximenia americana

Ximenia
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Indian Ocean Islands; Pacific Islands; Australia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Indian Ocean Islands; Pacific Islands; Australia; subtropical and tropical regions
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species 10 (1 in the flora).

Fruits of Ximenia americana and X. caffra Sonder are eaten either raw or cooked. In India, oil from the seeds of X. americana is used as a ghee substitute and the wood is used in place of sandalwood (see R. A. DeFilipps 1968 for other economic applications). Anticancer compounds known as ribosome-inactivating proteins have been found in X. americana (C. Voss et al. 2006). Long chain acetylenic acids in that species showed potential pesticidal activity (M. O. Fatope et al. 2000).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 405. FNA vol. 12, p. 404.
Parent taxa Ximeniaceae > Ximenia Ximeniaceae
Subordinate taxa
X. americana var. americana
X. americana
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1193. (1753) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1193. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 500. (1754)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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