Parinari

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Parinari curatellifolia 1.jpg

| image_caption = Parinari curatellifolia

| taxon = Parinari

| authority = Aubl.

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms =

• Balantium Desv.
• Dugortia Scop.
• Ferolia Barrère ex Kuntze
• Lepidocarpa Korth.
• Parinarium Juss.
• Petrocarya Schreb.

}}

File:Parinari montana MHNT.BOT.2018.28.9.jpg]]

Parinari is a genus of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae.

Species of genus Parinari are found in Subsaharan Africa from Senegal to Sudan and Kenya and south to Namibia and Natal; in Eastern Madagascar; from Indochina through Indonesia, New Guinea, northern Queensland, and the southwest Pacific; and in Central and South America from Costa Rica to Trinidad and southern Brazil. The oldest fossils of Parinari fruits are from the early Miocene of Ethiopia, Panama, and Colombia.

The genus is closely related to Neocarya.{{Cite journal |last1=Chave |first1=Jérôme |last2=Prance |first2=Ghillean T. |last3=Sothers |first3=Cynthia A. |last4=Dexter |first4=Kyle G. |last5=Chamagne |first5=Juliette |last6=Bardon |first6=Léa |date=2013-01-01 |title=Origin and evolution of Chrysobalanaceae: insights into the evolution of plants in the Neotropics |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=171 |issue=1 |pages=19–37 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01289.x |issn=0024-4074|doi-access=free }}

Parinari can be distinguished from other genera in Chrysobalanaceae by the following characteristics:{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Prance |first1=G.T. |last2=Sothers |first2=C. |editor1-last=Milliken |editor1-first=W. |editor2-last=Klitgård |editor2-first=B. |editor3-last=Baracat |editor3-first=A. |encyclopedia=Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics |title=Neotropical Chrysobalanaceae |url=http://www.kew.org/science/tropamerica/neotropikey/families/Chrysobalanaceae.htm |access-date=2019-09-17 |language=en |date=2009 |publisher= Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew}}

• zygomorphic floral symmetry
• 6-10 unilaterally-attached stamens per flower
• ovary at side or mouth of receptacle-tube
• leaf lower surface lanate and with hair-filled stomatal cavities and parallel secondaries closely spaced
• pair of glands on leaf petiole
• large, woody fruits