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Family: Lecythidaceae (brazil nut family) Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Asterids > Order: Ericales
About 20 genera and 280 species worldwide (pantropical) of
which only one species, Barringtonia racemosa, occurs in southern Africa.
Species indigenous to southern Africa
Other significant species
Bertholletia excelsa (Brazil
nut) Brazil nut trees are indigenous to the Amazon rain
forest in South America. Trees are about 45 m high and bear woody pods,
each pod containing 12 to 20 hard-shelled seeds that we know as Brazil
nuts. Most Brazil nuts are harvested from wild trees in Brazil and
exported. The kernel of a Brazil nut contains about 67% fat and eating
one nut is about the caloric equivalent of eating an egg! They are a
good source of phosphorus and thiamin and contain some calcium.
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