# Amherstia

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{{Short description|Monotypic genus of legumes}}
{{for|the asteroid|516 Amherstia}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Amherstia nobilis (2369714639).jpg
| image_caption = Flowers on a cultivated specimen in India
| status = EW
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="IUCN">{{cite iucn |author=Rivers, M.C. |year=2024 |title=''Amherstia nobilis'' |article-number=e.T226776565A227965606 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-1.RLTS.T226776565A227965606.en}}</ref>
| display_parents = 3
| genus = Amherstia
| parent_authority = Wall.
| species = nobilis
| authority = [Wall.](/source/Nathaniel_Wallich)
|range_map_caption = {{center|{{legend0|#c71010|It was native to  Myanmar but is now extinct in the wild.<ref name="IUCN" />}}}}
|range_map = <mapframe text="" width=220 height=220 zoom=2>[{"type":"ExternalData","service":"geoshape","ids":"Q836","properties":{"title":"native","fill":"#c71010","stroke-width":0,"description":""}}]</mapframe>
}}

'''''Amherstia nobilis''''' ({{langx|my|သော်ကကြီး}} {{IPA|my|θɔ̀ka̰ dʑí|}}; the '''Pride of Burma''') is a tropical [tree](/source/tree) growing to about {{convert|15|m}} in height with large, showy [flower](/source/flower)s. It is the only member of the genus '''''Amherstia'''''. It is widely cultivated for [ornament](/source/ornamental_plant) in the humid [tropics](/source/tropics), but is [extinct in the wild](/source/extinct_in_the_wild), only being known from a single wild specimen which was recorded in 1865.<ref name="IUCN"/> It is thus potentially [endemic](/source/endemism) in Burma ([Myanmar](/source/Myanmar)), hence the common name, though [Plants of the World Online](/source/Plants_of_the_World_Online) also cites it as native in adjoining [Thailand](/source/Thailand).<ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |title=''Amherstia nobilis'' Wall. |id=473718-1 |access-date=2025-06-17}}</ref> The [scientific name](/source/scientific_name) commemorates [Lady Amherst](/source/Sarah_Amherst), (as does [Lady Amherst's pheasant](/source/Lady_Amherst's_pheasant)) and also her daughter Sarah.<ref name=Wallich>Wallich, Nathaniel. ''[Plantae Asiaticae Rariores](/source/Plantae_Asiaticae_Rariores)'' 1: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/449445#page/14/mode/1up 1], 1830 [1829].</ref> Another common name, orchid tree, is also used for members of the genus ''[Bauhinia](/source/Bauhinia)''.

==Description==
The extravagant flowers are seen hanging from the metre-long pendent [inflorescence](/source/inflorescence),<ref>{{cite book | last= Allen | first= O.N. and Ethel K. | date= 1981 | title= The Leguminosae - A Sourcebook of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation | location= Madison, Wisconsin | publisher= Univ. Wisc. Press | pages= 39–40 | isbn= 0-299-08400-0 }}</ref> or flower [stalk](/source/stalk_(botany)), which is a bright [crimson](/source/crimson) red at the end. There are 5 [petal](/source/petal)s although 2 of these are minute and the rest are of unequal size. These petals are also crimson; the two medium-sized petals are [yellow](/source/yellow) at the tip and the largest petal is broad and [fan](/source/Fan_(implement))-shaped with a wavy upper margin and a yellow triangle of colour extending from the lip down into the [flower](/source/flower). This large petal can reach {{cvt|7.5|cm}} long and over {{cvt|4|cm}} wide at the end. There are either 9 or 10 [stamen](/source/stamen)s, 9 of which are partially fused into a [pink](/source/pink) sheath; the stamens are of two differing lengths with the longer ones having larger [anther](/source/anther)s. The [compound leaves](/source/compound_leaf) bear six to eight large [leaflets](/source/leaflet_(botany)); these are broadly oblong in shape and are pallid underneath.<ref name=Wallich/>

The [fruit](/source/fruit), a [legume](/source/legume), is a pod {{cvt|11 to 20|cm}} long. The pods are roughly [scimitar](/source/scimitar)-shaped, and the woody outer case opens to disperse the seeds.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

==Gallery==
<gallery perrow="7">
File:P1240149 Amherstia nobilis (fierté de Birmanie).jpg|''Amherstia nobilis'' beginning of the inflorescence
File:P1240150 Amherstia nobilis (fierté de Birmanie).jpg|''Amherstia nobilis'' flowering
File:P1240151 Amherstia nobilis (fierté de Birmanie).jpg|''Amherstia nobilis'' detail of the flower
File:Amherstia nobilis with flower, new red leaves, and mature green leaves.jpg|Flower, new red leaves, and mature green leaves
File:Amherstia nobilis seedpod.jpg|Seedpod
File:Plantae Asiaticae rariores, or, Descriptions and figures of a select number of unpublished East Indian plants (Tab. 1) BHL449447.jpg|Illustration 
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060706205801/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/plants_and_algae/Amherstia_nobilis/ From the ARKive digital database]

{{Taxonbar|from2=Q18201508|from1=Q58522}}

Category:Detarioideae
Category:Monotypic Fabaceae genera
Category:Trees of Myanmar
Category:Ornamental trees

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Amherstia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amherstia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amherstia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.