Taxon: Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl.

Genus:

Bertholletia

Family:

Lecythidaceae

Subfamily:

Lecythidoideae

Nomen number:

7022

Place of publication:

Pl. aequinoct. 1:122-127, t. 36. 1807 ("1808")

Link to protologue:

Comment:

despite the indication in TL-2 of Bonpland as the "Author of text" for this work, Bonpland is really only identified on the title page as the editor of a work jointly authored by both Humboldt and Bonpland, who thus have joint authorship of any nomenclatural novelties therein

Typification:

Name Verified on:

10-ene-1995 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last Changed: 19-sep-2017

Species priority site is:

Natl. Germplasm Repository - Miami (MIA)

Accessions:

76 in National Plant Germplasm System (GoogleMap)

Common names:

Brazilnut (Source: World Econ Pl) - English
Brazilnut-tree (Source: Dict Rehm) - English
creamnut (Source: Hortus 3) - English
Paranut (Source: Hortus 3) - English
Braziliaansche noot (Source: Lecythidaceae Pages) - Dutch
noyer de Para (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
noyer du Brésil (Source: Dict Rehm) - French
Paranußbaum (Source: Dict Rehm) - German
castanha-do-Brasil (Source: Dict Rehm) - Portuguese
castanha-do-Pará (Source: Dict Rehm) - Portuguese
castanheira (Source: Lecythidaceae Pages) - Portuguese (Brazil)
castaña del Brasil (Source: Names Soukup) - Spanish
castaño de Pará (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
nuez del Brasil (Source: Dict Rehm) - Spanish
tapa (Source: Lecythidaceae Pages) - Spanish (Bolivia)
castaña (Source: Lecythidaceae Pages) - Spanish (Peru)
paranöt (Source: Kulturvaxtdatabas) - Swedish

Economic Importance:

Human food: nut (fide F Neotrop 21(2):117. 1990)
Materials: wood (timber fide Ency WTimber)
Medicines: folklore (fide CRC MedHerbs ed2; Herbs Commerce ed2)

Distributional Range:

Native

Southern America

NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Guyana, Venezuela [Amazonas]
BRAZIL: Brazil [Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Para, Amapa (Acre, Rondonia, Matto Grosso)]
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, [Beni] Colombia, [Amazonas] Peru [Madre de Dios (e.)]

References:

Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource on www.skud.info). 2012 (Kulturvaxtdatabas)
Boutelje, J. B. Encyclopedia of world timbers, names and technical literature. 1980 (Ency WTimber)
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium Hortus third. 1976 (Hortus 3)
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000 (Herbs Commerce ed2)
Mori, S. A. & G. T. Prance 1990. Lecythidaceae - Part II. The zygomorphic-flowered New World genera (Couroupita, Corythophora, Bertholletia, Couratari, Eschweilera, & Lecythis) Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 21(2):114-118.
Mori, S. A. et al. Lecythidaceae pages (on-line resource). (Lecythidaceae Pages)
Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994 (Dict Rehm)
Soukup, J. Vocabulario de los nombres vulgares de la flora peruana. (Names Soukup)

Check other web resources for Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl. :

TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Databas of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy).
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://germoplasma.iniaf.gob.bo/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=7022. Accessed 7 junio 2026.