Caesalpinia bonduc
Encyclopedia
Caesalpinia bonduc, commonly known as Gray Nicker, is a species of flowering plant
in the pea
family
, Fabaceae
, that has a pantropical
distribution. It is a vine-like shrub that reaches a length of 6 m (19.7 ft) and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines. Its 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) gray seeds, known as nickernut
s, are buoyant and durable enough to be dispersed
by ocean currents.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the pea
Pea
A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, Fabaceae
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
, that has a pantropical
Pantropical
In biogeography, a pantropical distribution one which covers tropical regions of all of the major continents, i.e. in Africa, in Asia and in the Americas. Examples include the plant genera Acacia and Bacopa....
distribution. It is a vine-like shrub that reaches a length of 6 m (19.7 ft) and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines. Its 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) gray seeds, known as nickernut
Nickernut
Nickernuts or nickar nuts are smooth, shiny seeds from tropical leguminous shrubs, particularly Caesalpinia bonduc and C. major, both known by the common name warri tree. C. bonduc produces gray nickernuts, and C. major produces yellow...
s, are buoyant and durable enough to be dispersed
Drift seed
Drift seeds and drift fruits are seeds and fruits adapted for long distance dispersal by water. Most are produced by tropical trees, and they can be found on distant beaches after drifting thousands of miles through ocean currents...
by ocean currents.