Taxon: Calliandra grandiflora (LʼHér.) Benth.

Summary

Genus:

Calliandra

Family:

Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)

Subfamily:

Caesalpinioideae

Tribe:

Ingeae

Nomen number:

409058

Place of publication:

J. Bot. (Hooker) 2:139. 1840

Verified:

07/01/1997 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

3 (0 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Mimosa grandiflora LʼHér.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Acacia grandiflora (LʼHér.) Willd.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Anneslia strigillosa Britton & Rose
Calliandra anomala (Kunth) J. F. Macbr.
Calliandra anomala (Kunth) J. F. Macbr. var. anomala
Calliandra houstoniana (Mill.) Standl. var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
Calliandra strigillosa (Britton & Rose) Standl. ex Leavenw.
Inga anomala Kunth

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
Corby, H. D. L. 1988. Types of rhizobial nodules and their distribution among the Leguminosae. Kirkia 13(1):53-123.
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Macqueen, D. J. & H. M. Hernández. 1997. A revision of Calliandra ser. Racemosae (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). Kew Bull. 52:21.
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Rico, L. & T. Pennington. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Neotropical Mimosoideae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
Spanish	cabello de ángel			2	Rico, L. & T. Pennington. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Neotropical Mimosoideae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
Spanish	cabeza-de-angel			2	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Chihuahua	s.w.	Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Durango		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Nuevo León		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sinaloa		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sonora		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Zacatecas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Aguascalientes		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Ciudad de México		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Colima		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guanajuato		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guerrero		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Hidalgo		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Jalisco		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	México		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacán de Ocampo		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Morelos		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Nayarit		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Puebla		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Querétaro		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tlaxcala		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	El Salvador			Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala			Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Honduras			Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
2	Cultivated	Europe		Europe			Rico, L. & T. Pennington. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Neotropical Mimosoideae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.

Native
Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Chihuahua (s.w.), Durango, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Tlaxcala, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Ciudad de México]

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador

Cultivated
Europe

REGION: Europe

Reference(s)

Barneby, R. C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: a generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74(3):179. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. anomala (Kunth) Barneby
Rico, L. & T. Pennington. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Neotropical Mimosoideae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Medicines	folklore		Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	folklore		McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=409058. Accessed 17 April 2026.