Pachira spp.
The cash tree, aka Guiana, Malabar, or water chestnut (Pachira aquatica), is a broadleaf evergreen perennial native to wetlands and marshes in Mexico and northern areas of South America.
This species bears five-lobed, hand-like leaves. When younger, the bark is inexperienced and pliable, changing into grey, corky, and inflexible because it matures.
The trunk might swell because it shops water during times of ample moisture, an adaptation that helps the cash tree survive occasional dry spells.
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Suited to outside cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 12, cash tree can be a well-liked houseplant believed to convey good luck and contribute to constructive Feng Shui within the residence.
Within the wild, cash bushes can attain as much as 60 toes tall, however when cultivated as a houseplant they prime out at about six to eight toes.
This text discusses all it’s good to know to develop a cash tree indoors as a houseplant.
Right here’s what we’ll cowl:
In its native habitat, the cash tree produces showy, aromatic flowers in spring, with yellowish-white petals and dense brush-like red-tipped stamens.
Massive pods observe, containing seeds traditionally utilized in conventional medication. Indoors, potted specimens not often bloom.
These grown as houseplants usually characteristic a number of straight trunks braided collectively for ornamental enchantment. Some growers prepare them as bonsai specimens.
Fast Look
Frequent identify(s): Cash tree, Guiana chestnut, Malabar chestnut
Plant sort: Broadleaf evergreen perennial
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 10-12 (outdoor)
Native to: Mexico, Central America, northern South America
Bloom time / season: Spring (uncommon indoors)
Publicity: Vibrant, oblique mild
Soil sort: Unfastened, moisture-retentive, well-draining
Soil pH: 6.0-7.0, barely acidic to impartial
Time to maturity: 5-10 years
Mature measurement: 6-8 toes excessive and large as a houseplant
Greatest makes use of: Bonsai, ground or desk houseplant, rain backyard
Taxonomy
Order: Malvales
Household: Malvaceae
Genus: Pachira
Species: Aquatica, glabra
Like fortunate bamboo, one other tropical decorative, cash bushes are incessantly adorned with pink ribbons or charms to represent prosperity.
A carefully associated species, the Guinea or French peanut, P. glabra, has cream-colored flowers with matching cream stamens, and easy, grey bark.
Even in its early levels of development, the stems are noticeably swollen.
It’s common to search out P. glabra foliage grafted onto P. aquatica trunks in business specimens and the species are sometimes listed interchangeably on the houseplant market.
A legend tells of a financially challenged Taiwanese farmer who prayed for a miracle, discovered the tree rising in his discipline, and was capable of promote the seeds for a revenue, therefore the identify “cash tree.”
The species can be prized for having a lifespan of fifty to 150 years.