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Sebastiania pavoniana
Sebastiania pavoniana is a species of tree in the spurge family native to Mexico and northwest Costa Rica. It is the 'bean' part of the Mexican jumping bean, despite not being a legume like true beans. The 'jumping' is provided by the larva of the jumping bean moth (Cydia saltitans).
S. pavoniana is native to northwest Costa Rica in Guanacaste Province, and Mexico, including the states of Baja California Sur, Puebla, Sonora, Jalisco, and Veracruz. Specimens have also been found in Belize. It is one of the most common trees of the Tropical dry broadleaf forest, especially in late-succession forests as it is shade-tolerant. It can be found growing at 275–925 metres (902–3,035 ft) in elevation. It typically grows in arroyos or other riparian zones.
Besides the seeds selling as novelty items, the Yaqui grate the unpeeled (and unparasitized) seeds turning them into flour which is baked into loaves for feast days. The chuculi-buahuame, or 'bread of hunger,' as it's called, is thought to provide a boost of energy. An American entrepreneur in Havana once tried to sell the flour mixed with chicle to make an energizing gum, but was stopped over concern for accidentally introducing the moth to the island of Cuba.
Gymnanthes glandulosa · Gymnanthes integra · Sebastiania argutidens · Sebastiania bahiensis · Sebastiania bicalcarata · Sebastiania brasiliensis · Sebastiania brevifolia · Sebastiania catingae · Sebastiania chaetodonta · Sebastiania chahalana · Sebastiania chiapensis · Sebastiania cruenta
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sebastiania pavoniana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
