Delonix

Delonix is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae.^[4] It contains trees that are native to Madagascar and East Africa. By far the best known species is the Royal Poinciana (D. regia).

Delonix
Royal poinciana (Delonix regia)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Genus:	Delonix Raf. (1837)[1]
Type species
Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf.[2]
Species
See text
Synonyms[3]
Aprevalia Baill. (1884) Lemuropisum H.Perrier (1938 publ. 1939)

The name of the genus is derived from the Greek words δηλος (delos), meaning "evident," and ονυξ (onyx), meaning "claw," referring to the petals.^[5] The common name, poinciana, comes from a former genus of the same name in which the members of the current genus Delonix were classified along with plants now placed in the genus Caesalpinia.

Species

12 species are accepted:^[3]

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Delonix baccal (Chiov.) Baker f.	Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia
	Delonix boiviniana (Baill.) Capuron	Madagascar
	Delonix brachycarpa (R.Vig.) Capuron	Madagascar
	Delonix decaryi (R.Vig.) Capuron	Madagascar
	Delonix edulis (H.Perrier) Babineau & Bruneau	Madagascar
	Delonix elata (L.) Gamble	East Africa, southern Arabia east to western India
	Delonix floribunda (Baill.) Capuron	Madagascar
	Delonix leucantha (R.Vig.) Du Puy, Phillipson & R.Rabev.	Madagascar
	Delonix pumila Du Puy, Phillipson & R.Rabev.	Madagascar
	Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook.) Raf.	Madagascar[6]
	Delonix tomentosa (R.Vig.) Capuron	Madagascar
	Delonix velutina (R.Vig.) Capuron	Madagascar

Use

These plants (collectively known as fengoky or fengoka) release brown resin lumps that can be dissolved to make glue, or sucked as edible sweets among the Malagasy. Their seeds too are roasted and eaten as a snack in the south.^[7]

References

1. "Genus: Delonix Raf". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1999-03-05. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
2. "Delonix Raf". TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
3. Delonix Raf. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
4. The Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG). (2017). "A new subfamily classification of the Leguminosae based on a taxonomically comprehensive phylogeny". Taxon. 66 (1): 44–77. doi:10.12705/661.3. hdl:10568/90658.
5. Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3.
6. "Subordinate Taxa of Delonix Raf". TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
7. Puy, David J. Du; Phillipson, Peter B.; Rabevohitra, Raymond (1995). "The Genus Delonix (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae: Caesalpinieae) in Madagascar". Kew Bulletin. 50 (3): 450–1. Bibcode:1995KewBu..50..445P. doi:10.2307/4110322. JSTOR 4110322.

External links

• Media related to Delonix at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Delonix at Wikispecies