Neotropical Lecythidaceae are among the most spectacular plants in the world because of their showy flowers and large woody fruits. They are also ecologically dominant species in Amazonian forests, for example, Steege et al. (2006) show that Lecythidaceae are the third most abundant family as calculated from a sample of 277,069 trees from across Amazonia and that Eschweilera, the genus with the most species in Lecythidaceae, is represented by more trees than is any other genus of plants in Amazonia. Lecythidaceae are found as far north as Mexico and as far south as Paraguay, but are not nearly as abundant or species rich as in the Amazon.
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