Thanks for commenting. I agree about the confusion between species. There are lots of expressions people use to help them tell whether a coral or other snake is poisonous, but the safest one I know is: “Wear boots; don’t put your hand where you can’t see; don’t touch.” Around here, anyway, snakes rarely bite unless provoked.

I must say I’m grateful not to deal with Mambas and Cobras.

There can be a very fine line between species and can be very confusing at times, especially to a layman like me. LOL!!

Thanks for noticing page 325 in the Barwick (Tropical & Subtropical Trees – An Encyclopedia) book. I had looked at that book earlier, under Cojoba of course, and had not seen this bean. Ah!

The two plants, the Cojoba rufescens and the Pithecellobium seen on page 325, are certainly in the same subfamily, Mimosoideae. The plant on page 325 has the common name Cojoba but it is placed in the genus Pithecellobium. I have a feeling that the genus Cojoba has fairly recently been separated from the genus Pithecellobium. Here’s what Gentry (A Field Guide to the Woody Plants of Northwest South America, 1996) has to say:

“There is one area species intermediate between Inga and Pithecellobium that has simple-pinnate leaves but a dehiscent fruit with red lining of the typical Pithecellobium-type; that species is currently referred to Pithecellobium as P. refescens.”

Now, however, twelve years after Gentry’s book was published, if you search for Cojoba rufescens, you’ll see that that is the accepted name and that P. rufescens is one of its synonyms.

Still, Gentry’s quote answers one thing: The beans of this Cojoba look very so much like the beans of Pithecellobium that this plant was grouped with that genus for some time.

Does all this make sense?

Thank YOU for commenting and contributing your knowledge. It’s great.

Thanks for the info about the Cojoba. It was interesting as usual.

I was browsing through one of my plant books today and I found a page about a Cojoba tree. I had already read this blog entry so it caught my eye. The entry in this book showed the seed pod and seeds to look identical to those on this blog posting but the leaves were much smaller. I believe you have the book I’m referring to. It’s called “Tropical & Subtropical Trees – An Encyclopedia”. The entry I looked at is on page 325. It’s of the same family and subfamily but seems to diverge from there. As of many trees and plants here, many have the same name. I found this a curiosity though. What do you think?

Thanks again.

Thank you so much for commenting. I agree with you about the orchids. I feel very lucky to live in a place where orchids are so abundant.

Mary