Taxon: Calliandra calothyrsus Meisn.

Summary

Genus:

Calliandra

Family:

Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)

Subfamily:

Caesalpinioideae

Tribe:

Ingeae

Nomen number:

8502

Place of publication:

Linnaea 21:251. 1848

Verified:

06/23/1987 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

3 (1 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

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

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Calliandra houstoniana (Mill.) Standl. var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) Barneby

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Anneslia acapulcensis Britton & Rose
Calliandra acapulcensis (Britton & Rose) Standl.
Calliandra confusa Sprague & L. Riley
Calliandra houstoniana (Mill.) Standl. var. acapulcensis (Britton & Rose) Barneby

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) Barneby
Breteler, F. J. 1989. The origin and identity of Calliandra calothyrsus Meissn. and its synonym C. confusa Sprague and Riley (Mimos.). Acta Bot. Neerl. 38:79-80.
Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 11:79-83.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Macqueen, D. J. & H. M. Hernández. 1997. A revision of Calliandra ser. Racemosae (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). Kew Bull. 52:16.
McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
National Academy of Sciences. 1979. Tropical legumes: resources for the future
National Academy of Sciences. 1980. Firewood crops. Shrub and tree species for energy production
Pulle, A. A. et al., eds. 1932-. Flora of Suriname.
Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) A:69.
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama. Note: mentions

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	calliandra			1	't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
English	red calliandra			1	Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds. 1997. Auxiliary plants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 11:79-83.

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Durango		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		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	Campeche		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		McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Colima		McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guerrero		McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Jalisco		McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacán de Ocampo		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		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	Oaxaca		McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Belize			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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) Barneby
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Costa Rica			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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) 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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) 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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) 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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) Barneby
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Nicaragua			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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) Barneby
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Panama			Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama. Note: mentions
2	Cultivated					also cult.

Native
Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Durango, Sinaloa]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán de Ocampo, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave]

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador

Cultivated (also cult.)

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):180. Note: = Calliandra houstoniana var. calothyrsus (Meisn.) Barneby
McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:559-902.
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama. Note: mentions

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Animal food	fodder		't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
Environmental	agroforestry	green manure & nitrogen fixation	't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
Environmental	erosion control	green manure & nitrogen fixation	't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
Environmental	ornamental	green manure & nitrogen fixation	't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
Environmental	soil improver	green manure & nitrogen fixation	't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.
Fuels	fuelwood		National Academy of Sciences. 1979. Tropical legumes: resources for the future
Materials	fiber	for pulp & paper production	't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 4:68-70.

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=8502. Accessed 12 May 2026.