Hymenaea stiginocarpa is an irregularly shaped, mostly 6–9 m (20–30 ft) high tree that has been assigned to the pea family.

[2][3] Friedrich Gottlob Hayne, a German botanist, first scientifically described this species in 1830 as Hymenaea stigonocarpa, a name that had been used before by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, and was based on a specimen collected from a seasonally dry forest type, locally known as Caatinga, in the state of Piauí, north-eastern Brazil, during his 1817-1820 expedition.

João Barbosa Rodrigues, one of the most famous Brazilian botanists, in 1898 distinguished H. chapadensis, as well as H. correana, both of which were later considered synonyms of H. stigononcarpa subsp.

Recently, it has been established that the original material used to describe H. stigonocarpa belongs to the same species as the type of H. velutina.

The mesocarp and endocarp have been transformed into yellowish, soft, fibrous, slightly sweet flour-rich pulp with a characteristic smell.

[10] The nectar-rich flowers of Hymenaea stiginocarpa open at night and are pollinated by several bat species, among which are the mostly fruit-eating Platyrhinus lineatus and Carollia perspicilata and the nectar specialist Glossophaga soricina.

[9] By producing annually large amounts of fruits that are consumed by terrestrial fauna, the species also plays an important ecological role.

With the increasing demand for the products of this plant, there is a need for commercial cultivation and for growing high quality seedlings.

[15] Scholars showed a large variation in genetics between and within subpopulations that corresponds to variability in the weight of the fruit, and this provides perspective for breeding varieties with more favourable traits for human use.

[7] Seedlings can be grown in plastic bags with 50% shading, and do best in a mineral soil without organic compost and in a greenhouse.

[2] One study showed that extracts of H. stigonocarpa suppressed cell division in onions, and this may imply that it contains some cytotoxic substance.