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Pachira aquatica
Also called Malabar Chestnut, Provision Tree, Sabanut, Water Chestnut, Wild Cocoa, Money Tree
In Singapore: Guiana Chestnut, Malabar Chestnut, Money Tree, 瓜栗, 发财树 (Grown in Singapore)
Pachira aquatica is a tropical wetland tree from Central and South America, grown outdoors in frost-free areas and as a houseplant. Key to success is bright light without harsh direct sun and reasonably moist soil, though the common braided houseplant sold as money tree is usually the related Pachira glabra.
Pachira aquatica is a species of tropical wetland tree in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to Central and South America where it grows in swamps. It is known by its common names Malabar chestnut, French peanut, Guiana chestnut, provision tree, Saba nut, Monguba (Brazil), Pumpo (Guatemala) and Jelinjoche (Costa Rica) and is commercially sold under the names money tree and money plant. This tree is sometimes sold with a braided trunk and is commonly grown as a houseplant, although more commonly what is sold as a "Pachira aquatica" houseplant is in fact a similar species, Pachira glabra.
Most trees cultivated as ornamental houseplants that are identified as Pachira aquatica are actually the related Pachira glabra. While both P. aquatica and P. glabra have such ornamental uses, the often-braided houseplant known as a "money tree" originally exported from Taiwan is P. glabra. The association with P. aquatica derives from an early misidentification in Taiwan. As plant author Wang Jui-min explains that "for a long time, [this plant] was mistakenly believed to be the Pachira aquatica widely distributed in Central and South America...Later it was discovered that the filaments of the Malabar chestnut are red and the fruit is covered with reddish-brown hairs, which is significantly different from the smooth chestnut commonly cultivated in Taiwan". He notes that "all species cultivated in Taiwan are Pachira glabra".
The tree grows well as a tropical ornamental in moist, frost-free areas, and can be started from seed or cutting. It is a durable plant and adapts well to different conditions. The plant requires bright light, but not direct sunlight.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pachira aquatica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
