Pachira aquatica
Aubl. · speciesAt a glance
Sources12 archives
Databases and archives Pachira aquatica's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation14 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility3 169 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI16 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics31 specimens↗
dukesphytochemcompounds
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Pachira aquatica is a tropical wetland tree in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to Central and South America where it grows in swamps. It is known by its common names Malabar chestnut, French peanut, Guiana chestnut, Provision tree, Saba nut, Monguba (Brazil), Pumpo (Guatemala) and is commercially sold under the names Money tree and Money plant. This tree is sometimes sold with a braided trunk and is commonly grown as a houseplant, although more commonly what is sold as a "Pachira aquatica" houseplant is in fact a similar species, P. glabra."Pachira aquatica" Hawaiian Tropical Plants Nursery The genus name is derived from a language spoken in Guyana.Helmut Genaust (1983): Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen, 2. Auflage. Birkhäuser Verlag – The species name is Latin for "aquatic". It is classified in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae. Previously it was assigned to Bombacaceae.IABIN The name "money tree" is believed to refer to a story of its origin, in which a poor man prayed for money, found this "odd" plant, took it home as an omen, and made money selling plants grown from its seeds.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology12
Life cycle & reproduction6
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment9
Physiology & chemistry11
Compounds documented for Pachira aquatica across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Documented compounds28 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FAT | 414,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| PALMITIC-ACID | 324,800 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| OLEIC-ACID | 249,400 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| PROTEIN | 169,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| CYCLOPROPENOIDS | 153,700 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| FIBER | 131,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| LINOLEIC-ACID | 63,800 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| WATER | 54,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| CARBOHYDRATES | 37,900 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| ASH | 37,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Pachira aquatica has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Pachira aquatica carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 261×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
2n 881×CCDB · book-indian_vol1
n 441×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · family-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type3 169 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions80 of 178 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Saint Louis, US | 256 |
| Durango, MX | 232 |
| Mexico City, MX | 187 |
| Bronx, US | 76 |
| National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 49 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 49 |
| Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabascolocation not on record | 41 |
| Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Moreloslocation not on record | 40 |
| Mérida, MX | 25 |
| MEXUlocation not on record | 24 |
| Aarhus, DK | 21 |
| Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record | 19 |
| Austin, US | 19 |
| Xiamen, CN | 18 |
| UEPAlocation not on record | 18 |
| Kew, GB | 17 |
| Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó (UTCH)location not on record | 15 |
| Chicago, US | 15 |
| Tapachula, MX | 14 |
| San Francisco de Campeche, MX | 13 |
| San José, CR | 13 |
| Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record | 12 |
| UFBAlocation not on record | 11 |
| Chapingo, MX | 11 |
| Quito, EC | 10 |
| Departamento de Sistematica e Ecologialocation not on record | 10 |
| Miami, US | 9 |
| Mexico City, MX | 9 |
| UnBlocation not on record | 9 |
| UFRPElocation not on record | 9 |
| Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX | 9 |
| Universidade Federal do Maranhãolocation not on record | 8 |
| IECOSlocation not on record | 8 |
| UEMAlocation not on record | 8 |
| Chaguaramas, TT | 8 |
| Area de Conservacion Guanacastelocation not on record | 8 |
| JBRJlocation not on record | 8 |
| Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record | 7 |
| INBIOlocation not on record | 7 |
| St. Augustine, TT | 7 |
| Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record | 7 |
| Cuiabá, BR | 7 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 7 |
| Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)location not on record | 7 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 6 |
| Berlin, DE | 6 |
| Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Nortelocation not on record | 6 |
| Istituto Agrario Castelnuovolocation not on record | 6 |
| San Francisco, US | 5 |
| Masindi, UG | 5 |
| León, NI | 5 |
| MAlocation not on record | 5 |
| Corporación Autónoma Regional Para la Defensa de la Meseta de Bucaramanga (CDMB)location not on record | 5 |
| Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Región Xalapalocation not on record | 5 |
| Tampa, US | 5 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 5 |
| Antiguo Cuscatlán, SV | 5 |
| Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldilocation not on record | 5 |
| Mérida, MX | 5 |
| Honolulu, US | 5 |
| Ilhéus, BR | 5 |
| Fundación Desarrollo y Ambiente FUNDAlocation not on record | 5 |
| CEPLAClocation not on record | 5 |
| UFRRJlocation not on record | 4 |
| Austin, US | 4 |
| QCNElocation not on record | 4 |
| Instituto do Meio Ambientelocation not on record | 4 |
| Durham, US | 4 |
| Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas - SINCHIlocation not on record | 4 |
| South Kensington, GB | 4 |
| Maringá, BR | 4 |
| Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS)location not on record | 4 |
| UFPElocation not on record | 3 |
| Cenargenlocation not on record | 3 |
| UNESP-IBILCElocation not on record | 3 |
| Brasília, BR | 3 |
| Feira de Santana, BR | 3 |
| Fort Worth, US | 3 |
| Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX | 3 |
| Loja, EC | 3 |
| UNEMATlocation not on record | 3 |
| Riverside, US | 3 |
| UEMlocation not on record | 3 |
| Montecillo, Texcoco, MX | 3 |
| Sociedad para el Estudio de los Recursos Bióticos de Oaxaca, A. C.location not on record | 2 |
| Mexico City, MX | 2 |
| La Paz, BO | 2 |
| Universidade Federal do Ceara, Departamento de Biologialocation not on record | 2 |
| New Haven, US | 2 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad de La Salle (La Salle)location not on record | 2 |
| Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 2 |
| Paris, FR | 2 |
| Jataí / Setor Industrial, BR | 2 |
| Altos de Pipe, VE | 2 |
| URCAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Ural Federal University "B. N. Yeltsin"location not on record | 2 |
| UNIVASFlocation not on record | 2 |
| Centro de Pesquisas Agropecuarias do Tropico Umidolocation not on record | 2 |
| Brussels, BE | 2 |
| Paleontological Collectionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Tlalnepantla, MX | 2 |
| Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Biologialocation not on record | 2 |
| Fortaleza, BR | 2 |
| San Diego, US | 2 |
| Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campus do Pantanallocation not on record | 2 |
| UTFPR-CPlocation not on record | 2 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 2 |
| UERJlocation not on record | 2 |
| Uberlândia, BR | 2 |
| Universidade do Estado de Mato Grossolocation not on record | 2 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 2 |
| UNICAMPlocation not on record | 2 |
| Calabar, NG | 2 |
| Puebla, MX | 1 |
| Edinburgh, GB | 1 |
| Wlocation not on record | 1 |
| INMAlocation not on record | 1 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 1 |
| Salvador, BR | 1 |
| Alcaldía Municipal de Garzón en Huilalocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad Nacional Agrarialocation not on record | 1 |
| Managua, NI | 1 |
| Santa Teresa, BR | 1 |
| Universidade Federal do Espírito Santolocation not on record | 1 |
| Brasília, BR | 1 |
| Provincial Museum of Albertalocation not on record | 1 |
| Durban, ZA | 1 |
| Universidad de Nariño (UdeNar)location not on record | 1 |
| Universiti Sains Malaysialocation not on record | 1 |
| CNF-UFHBlocation not on record | 1 |
| Nishihara, JP | 1 |
| Cambridge, US | 1 |
| Universität Göttingenlocation not on record | 1 |
| Madison, US | 1 |
| Jardín Botánico de Cartagena "Guillermo Piñeres" (JBC)location not on record | 1 |
| Cincinnati, US | 1 |
| Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Herbario, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 1 |
| Porto Velho, BR | 1 |
| UFMGlocation not on record | 1 |
| Kunming, CN | 1 |
| BISHlocation not on record | 1 |
| UFMSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Henry Brockhouse Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Guasave, MX | 1 |
| UFAClocation not on record | 1 |
| Ivano-Frankivsk, UA | 1 |
| Empresa Pernambucana de Pesquisa Agropecuária, IPAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Claremont, US | 1 |
| Institut fur Allgemeine Mikrobiologielocation not on record | 1 |
| BMlocation not on record | 1 |
| Dirección Nacional Forestal, Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderíalocation not on record | 1 |
| QAPlocation not on record | 1 |
| UESBlocation not on record | 1 |
| UFERSAlocation not on record | 1 |
| LGlocation not on record | 1 |
| Gump Stationlocation not on record | 1 |
| Bogotá, D.C., CO | 1 |
| Montpellier, FR | 1 |
| Embrapa Agrobiology Diazothrophic Microbial Culture Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Sangmiung Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Mexico City, MX | 1 |
| Seropédica, BR | 1 |
| Taipei, TW | 1 |
| UNITINSlocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad de Pamplona (UPamplona)location not on record | 1 |
| Cruz das Almas, BR | 1 |
| Universidad de la Amazonia (UniAmazonia)location not on record | 1 |
| Santiago de Cali, CO | 1 |
| Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)location not on record | 1 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 1 |
| Campo Mourão, BR | 1 |
| Santarém, BR | 1 |
| University of Oxfordlocation not on record | 1 |
| Institut und Museum fuer Geologie und Palaeontologielocation not on record | 1 |
| GZUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Guatemala, GT | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Pachira aquatica was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.