Cavanillesia arborea

Cavanillesia arborea
A tree in grassland with tapering trunk and contorted bare branches
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Cavanillesia
Species:
C. arborea
Binomial name
Cavanillesia arborea
(Willd.) K.Schum.

Cavanillesia arborea (common name barrigudo) is a flowering plant in the subfamily Bombacoideae of the family Malvaceae, native to the Caatinga region of central and eastern Brazil.[1][2] Fully mature specimens can have the appearance of a baobab (Adansonia digitata), but they can also assume the shape of a huge rugby ball or American football, growing from a small base, swelling in the middle to as much as 5 metres (16 ft) and then constricting again just beneath the branches.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "Cavanillesia arborea (Willd.) K.Schum". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  2. ^ Walker, C. C. (2022). "Cavanillesia Malvaceae". In Eggli, U.; Nyffeler, R. (eds.). Dicotyledons: Rosids. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 1–7. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-85239-9_77-1. ISBN 978-3-030-85239-9.
  3. ^ Schimper, Dr. A.F.W. (1903). Plant Geography on a Physiological Basis. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. pp. 349 plus figure 193.
  4. ^ Jacobsen, Hermann (1960). Handbook of Succulent Plants. Vol. 1. London: Blandford Press. p. 259.