Although first named
Pachira by
Jean Baptiste Aublet in 1775. The genus name is derived from a language spoken in
Guyana.
Carl Linnaeus the Younger unaware of this separately is said to have called the genus
Carolinea after Princess (or Marchioness) "Sophia Caroline of Baden" in 1782. The principle of precedence gives the authority to
Pachira. The
Margrave of Baden,
Karl Wilhelm (1709 – 1738) founded the
Karlsruhe Palace (
Karlsruher Schloß) in 1715. He had a considerable interest in botany, particularly the exotic, and had large numbers of trees imported for the Palace Gardens (
Schloßgarten). He was succeeded by his Grandson,
Karl Friedrich (1738 - 1811) who married
Princess Karoline Luise von Hessen-Darmstadt (1723 - 1783) in 1751. Karoline Luise was a noted botanist. She corresponded with Carl von Linné (
Linnaeus), cultivated numerous plants in the palace gardens, had engravings of them made for a book and had them all classified according to Linnaeus' system. Linnaeus' son, Carl Linnaeus the younger, recognised her contributions by naming one of the trees,
Pachira aquatica (German:
Glückskastanie)
Carolinea princeps after her. == Commercial use ==