Ungnadia


Ungnadia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae containing one species, Ungnadia speciosa, the Mexican buckeye, a shrub or small tree native to northern Mexico as well as Texas and southern New Mexico in the United States. The name honours Austrian ambassador Baron David von Ungnad, who brought the horse chestnut to Vienna in 1576, introducing the plant into western Europe.
It differs from the buckeyes in the related genus Aesculus in having alternate, pinnate leaves with 5–9 leaflets, but the seeds and nuts are similar. Another similar related genus is the soapberry. Ungnadia seeds are poisonous despite their sweetness, and sometimes used as marbles. The foliage is toxic and rarely browsed by livestock, but bees produce honey from the floral nectar.