Geoffroea is a rather small genus of wild spiny shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s or small trees of tropical and subtropical South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Although it gathers few species, they are highly extended geographically throughout the subcontinent. Each species is well known in its local area, as seen from the varied (and mostly domestic) usage of these trees as food, timber or fuel.

Taxonomy of the Geoffroea genus is not an uncomplicated matter due to the large available number of binomial synonyms found in literature, sometimes referring to a same species. Also, this 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...

 genus has been alternatively linked to the subfamily Papilionoideae or Faboideae

Faboideae

Faboideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. One acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae....

 (alternative name used in some classification systems for the family Papilionaceae or Fabaceae). Nevertheless, Geoffroeas are listed among the legumes to which they belong.