One of the most common indoor potted tree plants is the "Money tree" (also known as the "Lucky money tree" or the "Bonsai money tree" or even "French Peanut"). There is considerable confusion it seems as to the species of tree that these "money trees" belong to. They are almost always listed as being "Pachira aquatica" in nurseries and plant shops. The truth however is that there are several species in the pachira genus that are used to make the braided money trees and in my opinion the most commonly used is not pachira aquatica but rather parchira glabra (sometimes called Bombax glabra or Bombacopsis glabra).
The differnce between the p. aquatica and the p. glabra can be easily seen in the fruit and the flower. p. aquatica has a flower with redish stamens while the p. glabra has a flower with creamy white stamens. The fruit of the p. aquatica is woody brown with a rough texture while that of the p. glabra is green and has a smooth surface.
These two distinctives are of little use however if what you are trying to do is identify a potted money tree plant that in all likelyhood will never have neither flower nor fruit pod. This leaves just the leaves as the source of differences to determine the true species.
One of the reader comments on my previous post about the p. aquatica tiped me off to the difference. The venation of the p. glabra is more horizontal with respect to the petiole while the p. aquatica is slightly more angled. From my observations the leaflet shape is also slighly different with the p. glabra being a bit more long and pointy and the p. aquatica a bit more round and less pointed.
The images above and below are from a braided money tree plant that was planted in the Torrremolinos botanical garden "molino de inca". I happend to come across it when it had fruit that was mature enough to check the color and texture.
Links to pachira glabra sites...
http://www.montosogardens.com/pachira_glabra.htm
http://www.kartuz.com/p/80057/Pachira+glabra.html
http://www.esalq.usp.br/trilhas/fruti/fr04.htm
8 hours ago
8 comments:
MY MONEY TREES HAVE DEVELOPED A CLEAR, STICKY, SUBSTANCE ALONG THE STEMS AND LEAVES. IS THIS SOMETHING I SHOULD TREAT? OR IS IT NORMAL. PLEASE EMAIL ME @ eveozer@mdgglobal.com
THANK YOU
Does it have any insects? Like small brown scale? Several species of insects secrete a sticky substance. Depending on the insect they can be treated with a soapy spray or alcohol on a cotton swap on the scale or mealybug.
when is it best to re-pot? mine is a foot tall in a container about 3 inches across- help- i don't want to impede its' growth
My money tree is over 8 foot tall and no longer fits in my home. Can these be kept or planted outside? I live in South Carolina. Can it be pruned at the top to shorten it?
I have one planted outside in Florida. However, the cold ruins it - but it does grow back by summer.
The sticky substance is normal... and please don't EVER use alcohol on these beautiful creatures!
A foot tall and in a THREE INCH container? Please replant immediately. It's always better to reduce the number of times one has to replant/re-pot by planting in a larger pot for the tree to grow into.
Good luck!
my money tree seems to be rotting from the inside out. It had 5 stems last year and 3 of them did this. Now I am loosing a fourth this year. I am not watering it excessively by any means and can't figure out what is going on. The leaves turn yellow and fall off and the large stems that form the trunk get mushy and completely die. Any thoughts?
My money tree has a drinking problem. Every other day, I find a whole host of empty vodka bottles laying around it and the other day, I even found some still smoldering roaches near the base of its truck! Does my money tree need to go to rehab?
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