Which Amazonian plant family includes the Brazil nut tree?

Lecythidaceae is the plant family that includes the Brazil nut tree, Bertholletia excelsa. The family contains tropical trees, especially in the Americas, and is notable for woody fruits and distinctive flowers in several genera.

Brazil nut trees are native to the Amazon Basin and can grow into very tall emergent trees above the surrounding forest canopy. Their large, hard fruits contain several edible seeds arranged inside like segments of an orange.

Most Brazil nuts traded internationally come from wild or lightly managed forest populations rather than conventional plantations. The flowers depend on large native bees capable of reaching their complex floral structures, which makes successful cultivation difficult outside suitable forest ecosystems.

The family name is easy to confuse with the tree’s common name. Brazil nut is not a palm, legume, or member of the cocoa family. Its scientific classification places it in Lecythidaceae, alongside other tropical genera such as Couratari and Cariniana.