Piscidia piscipula, commonly named Florida fishpoison tree, Jamaican dogwood, or fishfuddle, is a medium-sized, deciduous, tropical tree native to the Greater Antilles (except Puerto Rico), extreme southern Florida (primarily the Florida Keys) and the Bahamas, and the coastal region from Panama northward to the vicinity of Ocampo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The native Taino of the West Indies discovered extracts from the tree could sedate fish, allowing them to be caught by hand. This practice led to the tree's common names—fishpoison and fishfuddle. The tree has medicinal value as an analgesic and sedative.Auxence, Elena G. 1953. A pharmacognostic study of Piscidia erythrina. Economic Botany 7(3): 270-284 The generic name is Latin for "fish killer", and the specific epithet is Latin for "little fish".Nellis, David N. 1994. Seashore plants of South Florida and the Caribbean: A guide to identification and propagation of xeriscape plants. Pineapple Press. 160 p.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Piscidia piscipula across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
💊 Medicinal use documented
Compound class profile5 classes
Isoflavones55
Coumaronochromones7
Rotenoids6
Fatty alcohols4
Wax monoesters2
Documented compounds116 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
ICHTHYNONE
2,500 ppm
DukesPhytochem
05DNA & barcoding7 specimens
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 Piscidia piscipula has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens7
Marker genes4
eDNA detections32
Countries1
Marker genes sequenced
★ 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.
★matK★rbcL★ITS2trnH-psbA
plant barcodefungal barcodemarker
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualPiscidia piscipula 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.
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
DNA clock origin2.9 Ma TimeTree
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.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type2 354 records
Wild obs. + sensor1 301
Museum / vouchered1 053
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO4 292 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy90% within 1 km
≤100 m 691≤1 km 170≤10 km 53>10 km 48
962 georeferenced · 339 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor1 301
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.
Coordinate accuracy89% within 1 km
≤100 m 596≤1 km 20≤10 km 43>10 km 30
689 georeferenced · 364 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 053
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions41 of 70 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Durango, MX
203
Mexico City, MX
170
Mérida, MX
116
Saint Louis, US
75
Tapachula, MX
46
San Francisco de Campeche, MX
42
Mexico City, MX
38
Tampa, US
35
Miami, US
28
Austin, US
26
Bronx, US
26
Mérida, MX
24
Chapingo, MX
19
Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record
16
Ann Arbor, US
11
Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabascolocation not on record
10
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
8
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX
7
LDlocation not on record
7
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, MX
5
Kew, GB
5
MEXUlocation not on record
4
Fredericksburg, US
4
IANIGLAlocation not on record
4
Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Región Xalapalocation not on record
4
Guatemala City, GT
4
Chicago, US
4
ASUlocation not on record
4
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
3
INIREBlocation not on record
3
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
3
Edinburgh, GB
3
Riverside, US
3
South Kensington, GB
3
Bloomington, US
3
Montecillo, Texcoco, MX
3
Austin, US
3
Burlington, US
3
Bangkok, TH
2
Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Moreloslocation not on record
2
San Francisco, US
2
Wuzhou, CN
2
BISHlocation not on record
2
Honolulu, US
2
Instituto de Ecología Aplicada, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipaslocation not on record
2
HEMlocation not on record
2
MAlocation not on record
2
Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record
2
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
1
Feira de Santana, BR
1
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexicolocation not on record
1
CJBGlocation not on record
1
Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change & Solid Waste Managementlocation not on record
1
Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropicallocation not on record
1
Karlsruhe, DE
1
AUAlocation not on record
1
San Luis Potosí, MX
1
Ojo, NG
1
Universidad de Valparaísolocation not on record
1
University of Zhejianglocation not on record
1
Universidad Autonoma de Yucatanlocation not on record
1
Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicachlocation not on record
1
Northridge, US
1
NO DISPONIBLElocation not on record
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
1
Paris, FR
1
Fort Worth, US
1
Cambridge, US
1
Durban, ZA
1
70 institutions · 1 017 of 1 053 vouchered records shown · 35 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA32 detections
Where the DNA of Piscidia piscipula 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
Detections DNA found32
Studies independent surveys2
Countries1
Signal confidence: moderateweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median28.2 °C 27.7–28.2
Seasonal swing summer↔winter5.20 °C
Max temp (day)31.2 °C 31.2–33.2
Min temp (night)25.7 °C 23.6–25.7
Precipitation192 mm/mo 148–192
Air humidity61.9 % 60.6–61.9
Vapour deficit1,452 Pa 1,409–1,491
Cloud cover26.3 % 26.3–30.4
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 30 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
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.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation4 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility2 354 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI32 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics7 specimens↗
dukesphytochemcompounds
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗