chrysobalanaceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of trees and shrubs in 18 genera and about 533 species of pantropical distribution with a centre of diversity in the amazon. some of the species contain silica in their bodies for rigidity and so the mesophyll often has sclerenchymatous idioblasts. the widespread species "chrysobalanus icaco" produces a plum-like fruit and the plant is commonly known as the coco plum.