Pachira aquatica

A tree in its habitat
Pachira aquatica can grow up to 18 m (59.1 ft) in height in the wild. It has shiny green palmate leaves with lanceolate leaflets and smooth green bark. This species forms a slightly thickened root with smaller roots or roots, which also serves as a water reservoir. The relatively smooth bark is brown through gray and slightly cracked; young branches are green. Outdoors, P. aquatica produces a broad crown. The transitional and long-stalked, composite hand-shaped, slightly leathery leaves are arranged at the branch ends. The petiole is up to 24 cm long. The leaves are bright green and shiny and consist of up to nine leaflets (fingers). The mostly glabrous, short-stalked leaflets are up through 28 cm long and rounded through round pointed, spiked, or pointed. They are lanceolate or obovate, with a light middle veins. There are sloping stipules present. The leaves and flowers are also edible.Its showy flowers, among the largest tree flowers in the world, have long, narrow petals that open like a banana peel and reveal hairlike yellowish orange stamens. The greenish-yellow or cream-colored, hermaphroditic and very large, short and thick-stalked flowers with double perianth resemble shaving brushes long stamens. The terminal, single two- or threefold flowers look like bat-pollinated flowers. The up to about 2 cm long, outside fine-haired, green-brown and overgrown This species, greenish-brown calyxis cup-shaped and about 2 cm long.  Is elongated petals are up through 30 cm long. Flowers each up from about 180-250 pinkish stamens with elongate anthers. The five-chambered ovaries uppermost with a long stylus with divided, short lobed scar. The capsules are large, brown, woody, up to 20-30 cm long, rough, and egg-shaped, with a diameter of about 10-15 cm, weigh about 1-1.5 kg, and contain 10-25 nuts.

Water moderately, allowing the top 3cm to dry out between watering.

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Pachira Aquatica

Pachira aquatica

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