Ungnadia

{{Speciesbox

|name = Mexican buckeye

|image = Ungnadia speciosa flowers.jpg

|image_caption = Mexican buckeye flowers

|status=LC

|status_system=IUCN3.1

|status_ref={{cite iucn|author1=Machuca Machuca, K.|author2=Martínez Salas, E.|author3=Samain, M.-S.|year=2021|title=Ungnadia speciosa|page=e.T126621644A136785643|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T126621644A136785643.en|access-date=5 August 2023}}

|display_parents = 2

|genus = Ungnadia

|parent_authority = Endl.

|species = speciosa

|authority = Endl.

|range_map = Ungnadia speciosa range map.jpg

|range_map_caption = Natural range

}}

File:Ungnadia speciosa form.jpg

Ungnadia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae, containing one species, Ungnadia speciosa, commonly known as the Mexican buckeye. It is native to northern Mexico, as well as Texas and southern New Mexico in the United States. The name honors Austrian ambassador Baron David Ungnad von Sonnegg, son of Andreas Ungnad von Sonnegg, who brought the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) to Vienna in 1576, introducing the plant into western Europe.{{Failed verification|date=October 2024|reason=Citations do not prove the name actually honours David Ungnad von Sonnegg, son of Andreas Ungnad von Sonnegg|talk=Failed verification of name honouring David Ungnad von Sonnegg}}

It differs from the buckeyes in the related genus Aesculus but the seeds and nuts are similar. Another similar related genus is the soapberry (genus Sapindus). Ungnadia seeds are poisonous despite their sweetness, and sometimes used as marbles. The foliage is toxic and rarely browsed by livestock, but bees produce honey from the floral nectar.

Description

Ungnadia speciosa is a deciduous shrub or small tree (< 25 ft) that is often multi-trunked. The leaves ({{convert|5|–|12|in|cm|disp=or}}) are alternate and pinnately compound with 5 to 9 leaflets. The leaflets are long ({{convert|3|–|5|in|cm|disp=or}}), narrow, and pointed with slight serrations.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?12559 |title=Ungnadia Endl. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2006-03-29 |access-date=2010-01-19}}

{{GRIN | Ungnadia speciosa | 40871 | access-date = 2013-05-14}}

{{cite book |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=4 R-Z |year=2000 |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |publisher=Taylor & Francis US |isbn=978-0-8493-2678-3 |page=2760}}

{{cite book |title=Enchiridion botanicum, exhibens classes et ordines plantarum accedit nomenclator generum et officinalium vel usualium indicatio. |year=1841 |first=Stephan |last=Endlicher |publisher=Lipsiae, Sumptibus G. Engelmann|page=565 |url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/31953#page/583/mode/1up }}

{{cite book |last=Little |first=Elbert L. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region |year=1994 |orig-year=1980 |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0394507614 |edition=Chanticleer Press|page=544}}

{{cite book |title=Novarum stirpium decas I-X. |year=1839 |first=Stephan |last=Endlicher |publisher=Vindobonae :Typis Sollingerianis|page=75 |url = https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52993869 }}

{{cite book |title=The Woody Plant Seed Manual |year=2008 |editor1-first = Franklin T. | editor1-last = Bonner | editor2-first = Robert P. | editor2-last = Karrfalt |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. |location = Washington, DC. | volume = Agric. Handbook No. 727.|url = https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/nsl_wpsm.html }}

{{cite book |title=Silvics of North America |year=1990 |editor1-first = Russell M. | editor1-last = Burns | editor2-first = Barbara H. | editor2-last = Honkala |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. |location = Washington, DC. | volume = Agric. Handbook No. 654.|url =https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/table_of_contents.htm }}

{{cite book |last1=Stahl |first1=Carmine |last2=McElvaney |first2=Ria |date=2003 |title=Trees of Texas |url=https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781603445153/trees-of-texas/ |location=College Station, TX |publisher=Texas A&M Press |isbn=978-1-60344-515-3}}

{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=James A. |last2=Young |first2=Cheryl G. |date=2009 |title=Seeds of Woody Plants in North America | publisher=Dioscorides Press |isbn=978-1604691122}}

{{cite book |last1=Nokes |first1=Jill |date=2001 |title=How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest |location=Austin, TX |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0292755734}}

}}

External links

[http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/ungnadiaspecio.htm Benny Simpson's Texas Native Shrubs]
[http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=UNSP Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center]

Category:Trees of Northern America

Category:Monotypic Sapindaceae genera

Category:Sapindaceae