Species
+

Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth.

Kamantiris, Kamatsilis, Maco'ochiini, Madrasthorn

Climate known 53 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Pithecellobium dulce, commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, monkeypod tree or camachile, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is also sometimes known as monkeypod, but that name is also used for several other plants, including Samanea saman. It is an introduced species and extensively naturalized in the Caribbean and Florida, as well as the Philippines and Guam via the Manila galleons. It has also been introduced to Cambodia, Thailand and South Asia, It is considered an invasive species in Hawaii.

Text from Wikipedia, “Pithecellobium dulce”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Pithecellobium

Pithecellobium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes approximately 23 species from the tropical Americas, ranging from Mexico to Peru and northern Brazil, including the Caribbean Islands and Florida.

Text from Wikipedia, “Pithecellobium”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
(Roxb.) Benth.
Native to
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf +13
Wild records
1003 in range· 498 open

At a glance

Warmest month
31°C
May, mean day; nights 22 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1002mm/yr
7 wet months · peak Sep 197 mm (CHELSA)
Light
30–44DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1002 mm a year, wettest September at 197 mm, driest March at 9 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 44 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 16.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Acacia obliquifolia M.Martens & Galeotti; Albizia dulcis (Roxb.) F.Muell.; Feuilleea bertolonii (Benth.) Kuntze; Feuilleea dulcis (Roxb.) Kuntze; Inga camatchili Perr. and 18 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, June to September in the northern hemisphere (June to September at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (707 mm of 1002 mm) falls in June to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.0 °C against a yearly mean of 25.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to March.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1002 mm a year, wettest September at 197 mm, driest March at 9 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1002 mm a year at the habitat, 707 mm of it June to September. Wettest month September at 197 mm, driest March at 9 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 610 mm to 1975 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 44 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 30 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 24, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 16.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 16.7 °C, the absolute minimum 15.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.1 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 18.2 °C in January (across the envelope cells 10.0 °C to 23.5 °C), warmest day 30.7 °C in May (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 16.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 57 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 27 °C in Jan to 31 °C in May; mean night from 18 °C in Jan to 23 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1002 mm of rain a year, most in Sep. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 610 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 15.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 32.1 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°32.1° 99th-percentile day (undated)15.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 30–44RH 57–66 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 610 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C27 / 23–3228 / 24–3329 / 25–3331 / 27–3431 / 27–3430 / 26–3430 / 25–3330 / 25–3329 / 25–3229 / 25–3128 / 24–3027 / 23–31
Night °C18 / 10–2418 / 11–2419 / 12–2421 / 14–2522 / 16–2523 / 17–2523 / 16–2623 / 17–2623 / 16–2522 / 15–2520 / 13–2419 / 11–24
Rain mm22 / 5–8512 / 6–1019 / 3–14121 / 1–20367 / 2–238155 / 30–247174 / 55–269181 / 74–263197 / 103–307111 / 44–27433 / 10–20920 / 5–122
DLI32 / 25–3536 / 30–3942 / 33–4544 / 32–4842 / 30–5038 / 30–4437 / 32–4237 / 32–4133 / 30–3732 / 29–3531 / 26–3430 / 24–33
RH %58 / 49–6557 / 48–6457 / 45–6458 / 44–6660 / 47–6863 / 55–6864 / 56–6864 / 57–6966 / 59–7064 / 56–6961 / 52–6859 / 50–67

Each figure is the median across the 610 grid cells holding the 990 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1737:2068 (3.125, -76.575). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 15.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 16.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 610 distinct grid cells holding the 990 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1737:2068 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 3.00_-76.875, lapse-corrected -180 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 983 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru· introduced: Egypt, Benin, Burkina, Gambia, The, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burundi, Zaïre, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, Réunion, Iraq, Gulf States, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Jawa, Malaya, Philippines, Sumatera, New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., French Guiana, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker23.639, -106.36 · in the densest population, 452 records (45% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1003 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 498 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3472 km away. 371 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 13 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1003 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Pithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulcePithecellobium dulce

Photographs: (c) Jacky Judas, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Susan Blayney, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Carlos Martínez, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Alberto Alcalá, some rights reserved (CC BY); no rights reserved · CC0.

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Pithecellobium dulce, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Green synthesis, characterization and antifungal and photocatalytic activity of Pithecellobium dulce peel–mediated ZnO nanoparticles
Gunabalan Madhumitha, J. Fowsiya, Neelesh Gupta, Ashutosh Kumar (2018) · Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids
Antioxidant activity free radical-scavenging potential of Pithecellobium dulce Benth seed extracts
Dnyaneshwar M. Nagmoti, Dharmendra Kumar Khatri, Parikshit Juvekar, Archana R. Juvekar (2012) · Free Radicals and Antioxidants
A new study on characterization of Pithecellobium dulce fiber as composite reinforcement for light-weight applications
P. Manimaran, Sanjay Mavinkere Rangappa, P. Senthamaraikannan, B Yogesha (2018) · Journal of Natural Fibers
Evaluation of Forest and Fruit Trees Used for Rehabilitation of Semiarid Alkali-Sodic Soils in India
J. C. Dagar, G. Singh, N. T. Singh (2001) · Arid Land Research and Management
Studies on water soluble polysaccharides from Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. seeds
Sounak Bagchi, K. Jayaram Kumar (2015) · Carbohydrate Polymers
Pithedulosides A-G, oleanane glycosides from Pithecellobium dulce
S. K. Nigam, Misra Gopal, Rais Uddin, Kazuko Yoshikawa (1997) · Phytochemistry
Influence of high-intensity ultrasound on physicochemical and functional properties of a guamuchil Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) seed protein isolate
Nitzia Thalía Flores‐Jiménez, José Armando Ulloa, Judith Esmeralda Urías‐Silvas, José Carmen Ramírez‐Ramírez (2022) · Ultrasonics Sonochemistry
Aeroallergens and viable microbes in sandstorm dust
Aaron Kwaasi, V. R. S. Parhar, Futwan Al‐Mohanna, Harb A. Harfi (1998) · Allergy
Urban forest assessment in Bangkok, Thailand
Montri Intasen, Richard J. Hauer, Les P. Werner, Eric J. Larsen (2016) · Journal of Sustainable Forestry
Nutritional and therapeutic benefits of medicinal plant Pithecellobium dulce (Fabaceae): A review
Selvakumar Murugesan, Dinesh Kumar Lakshmanan, Velusamy Arumugam, Ronaldo Anuf Alexander (2019) · Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 215 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.