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Pisonia grandis; photograph Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BYForest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pisonia grandis R.Br.

Nyctaginaceae · Kenya, Tanzania +52

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

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Pisonia grandis, photograph Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPisonia grandis, photograph Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPisonia grandis, photograph Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia CommonsPisonia grandis, photograph Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia CommonsPisonia grandis, photograph B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPisonia grandis, photograph J.M.Garg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 12 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
19.0°C
Record low 16.1 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Jan, Feb, Mar and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,499mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
28–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, December to April (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Pisonia grandis, the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the Bougainvillea family, Nyctaginaceae.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Pisonia grandis", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,130 mm of 1,513 mm) falls in December to April. The temperature curve is flat, 3.9 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The temperature curve moves under 4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

1,513 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,130 mm of it December to April. Wettest month February at 291 mm, driest month September at 25 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,054 mm to 2,512 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,499 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,513 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 19.0 °C, the absolute minimum 16.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 34.7 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 22.3 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 14.6 °C to 24.7 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.9 °C in January and February (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 19.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 59 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +13 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Pisonia grandis through the yearWarmest months January, February, March and December, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 22.3 °C; 1,513 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°34.7° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER16.1° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 28–43RH 59–65%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 24 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 26–2928 / 27–2928 / 26–2927 / 25–2926 / 23–2924 / 21–2824 / 20–2724 / 21–2725 / 22–2826 / 23–2927 / 24–3028 / 25–30
Night °C26 / 22–2626 / 22–2626 / 21–2625 / 19–2624 / 18–2623 / 15–2522 / 15–2523 / 15–2523 / 17–2524 / 19–2625 / 20–2725 / 22–27
Rain mm278 / 114–374291 / 163–350238 / 115–379147 / 104–311111 / 27–19859 / 5–14438 / 4–14934 / 1–14425 / 4–16936 / 14–18480 / 51–237176 / 107–322
DLI38 / 34–4436 / 34–4136 / 34–3833 / 30–3730 / 25–3528 / 22–3430 / 23–3533 / 28–3938 / 34–4442 / 37–4643 / 37–4641 / 35–45
RH %65 / 62–6965 / 62–7065 / 60–6863 / 59–6861 / 58–6660 / 57–6559 / 56–6460 / 56–6461 / 58–6462 / 59–6562 / 60–6764 / 62–68

Records on both sides of the equator: the 8 cells at least 10° north of it have seasons six months apart and are left out, not combined into a year no place has. These figures are across the 24 cells that remain: the 16 at least 10° south and the 8 within 10° of the equator, which stay in either way.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 24 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (35 records in those cells; 43 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2026:6247 (-11.325, 132.375). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 16.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 19.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 34.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 24 distinct grid cells holding 35 of the 131 in-range records (43 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out) on the southern side of the equator (8 cells poleward of 10° north, 16 poleward of 10° south: the two sides' seasons are not combined, and cells within 10° of the equator stay in); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2026:6247 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -11.50_132.500, lapse-corrected +13 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 21 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 3701578 (Ceodes grandis (R.Br.) D.Q.Lu, 2000 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeKenya, Tanzania, Aldabra, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Mozambique Channel Is., Madagascar, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Taiwan, India, Laccadive Is., Maldives, Andaman Is., South China Sea, Borneo, Cocos (Keeling) I., Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Philippines, Sulawesi, Christmas I., New Guinea, Solomon Is., New South Wales, Queensland, Fiji, Gilbert Is., Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Phoenix Is., Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Cook Is., Line Is., Marquesas, Pitcairn Is., Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marcus I., Marianas, Marshall Is., Wake I., Hawaii · introduced: Sri Lanka · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-23.45, 151.917 · in the densest population, 56 records (27% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 205 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 35 of them in the land cells it reads, of 131 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 197 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1 km away. 49 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 74 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 3701578 (Ceodes grandis (R.Br.) D.Q.Lu): Kew's file holds it as Ceodes grandis (R.Br.) D.Q.Lu (synonym under Pisonia grandis R.Br.); 2,000 records, from GBIF's download.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 205 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Pisonia grandis, photograph 1did not loadPisonia grandis, photograph 2did not loadPisonia grandis, photograph 3did not loadPisonia grandis, photograph 4did not loadPisonia grandis, photograph 5did not loadPisonia grandis, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2); Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons (2); B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; J.M.Garg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Chrysalidocarpus cabadae Arecaceae Xylocarpus moluccensis Xylocarpus moluccensis Cedar mangrove Photo: CC BY, Richard LittauerPremna serratifolia Premna serratifolia Bastard guelder Photo: CC0, author not statedColubrina asiatica Colubrina asiatica Asian nakedwood Photo: CC BY, Richard LittauerImpatiens auricoma Impatiens auricoma Balsaminaceae Photo: CC BY, Charlène SelvaHeritiera littoralis Heritiera littoralis Beach tulip-oak Photo: CC BY, Павлик Лисицын

Other Pisonia 5 in the reference

Pisonia aculeata Pisonia aculeata Pullback Photo: CC BY, Alexis López HernándezPisonia capitata Pisonia capitata Mexican devil's-claws Photo: CC0, author not statedPisonia horneae Pisonia horneae Nyctaginaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Kurt MillerPisonia rotundata Pisonia rotundata Smooth devil's-claws Photo: CC BY, J. L. Gómez-HechavarríaPisonia subcordata Pisonia subcordata Mappo Photo: CC BY-SA, Kurt Miller

Names & registers

Also known as Ceodes forsteriana; Pisonia inermis; Ceodes grandis; Calpidia macrophylla; Pisonia macrophylla and 12 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

IPNIPOWOWikidataWFOWikipedia

The record

Family
Nyctaginaceae
Described by
R.Br.
Native to
Kenya, Tanzania, Aldabra +51
Wild records
205 in range · 197 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Pisonia grandis R.Br. (plant_name_id 2553028), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 2000 records of GBIF's key 3701578, Ceodes grandis (R.Br.) D.Q.Lu (Kew's file holds it as Ceodes grandis (R.Br.) D.Q.Lu (synonym under Pisonia grandis R.Br.)): the GBIF download
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -11.50_132.500, lapse-corrected +13 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier 604995-1, POWO 604995-1
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 38 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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