Amoreuxia palmatifida (common names saiya or temaquí) is a perennial herb with a native range from Arizona and New Mexico, through Mexico, Central America and Colombia. It has yellow flowers and long, narrow capsules. The leaves, roots, flowers, and fruits provided food for natives of Arizona and northern Mexico.[1]

Amoreuxia palmatifida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Bixaceae
Genus: Amoreuxia
Species:
A. palmatifida
Binomial name
Amoreuxia palmatifida
Moc. & Sessé ex DC.

Amoreuxia palmatifida was observed near Zacapa in the Motagua Valley of Guatemala as an expansive ground cover blanketing the very dry terrain in June.[2] Its flower is described as bright-orange, with purple spots on four of the five petals and tiered banks of twelve stamens with purple and orange anthers. Amoreuxia palmatifida Moc. & Sessé ex DC., Prodr. 2: 638–639. 1825.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Hodgson, W. 1993. Bixaceae, Lipsticktree Family. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 27-188-189.
  2. ^ Flowers of Guatemala, by Carol Rogers Chickering, University of Oklahoma Press, 1973
  3. ^ A.P. DeCandolle, Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 2: 638–639. 1825.