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(Last Modified On 11/27/2012)
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(Last Modified On 11/27/2012)
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Species
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CAESALPINIA CRISTA L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. P1. 380. 1753.
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Synonym
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Guilandina Bonducella L. Sp. P1. ed. 2, 545. 1762 (in part). Guilandina semina Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 265. 1790. ?Caesalpinia Bonducella (L.) Fleming, Asiat. Res. 11:159. 1810 Guilandina Bonduc var. minus DC. Prodr. 2:480. 1825. Guilandina crista (L.) Small, Fl. Southeast. U. S. 591. 1903.
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Description
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Vine-like shrub of sea beaches, heavily armed with recurved thorns and forming impenetrable thickets above tide level, the branchlets pubescent. Leaves large, twice-pinnate; petiole usually 5-10 cm. long, subterete except basally where swollen and flattened above, tomentose, armed like the stems; rachis 2 or more dm. long, eglandular, tomentose and armed like the petiole; stipules foliaceous, usually of 2 "leaflets" a few cm. long; pinnae about 7 pairs, up to 15 cm. long, opposite
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Habit
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Vine shrub
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Note
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Dandy and Exell (Jour. Bot. 76:175-180. 1938) show that the name C. crista as commonly applied should refer to a different, smooth-fruited species. It should then be correctly replaced by C. Bonduc (L.) Roxb., and the species in recent times generally regarded as C. Bonduc should become C. major (Medic.) Dandy & Exell. Thus our gray-seeded, armed-fruited species here listed as C. crista, and so regarded in most 20th-century literature and in herbaria, is probably in reality C. Bonduc, while the C. Banduc of 20th-century literature and most herbaria is C. major. Thus the names C. crista and C. Bonduc will both be found applying to either of two different species. I have followed here the established (incorrect, fide Dandy & Exell) practice of listing the gray- seeded nickar-nut as C. crista.
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Description
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from the upper surface of the rachis, armed, tomentose; ultimate leaflets about 8 pairs to the pinna, ovate-elliptic, 2-6 cm. long and 1-2.5 cm. wide, obtuse and mucronulate apically, rounded basally, puberulent on veins and margins. In- florescence axillary or subaxillary, racemose, several- to many-flowered, the peduncle armed; bracts linear-acuminate, about 1 cm. long, subpersistent, reflexed, tomen- tose; pedicels about 4 mm. long, rufous-tomentose. Flowers moderately small, brownish-yellow; calyx-tube broadly turbinate or subcupulate, 2-3 mm. long, rufous-tomentose without; calyx-lobes ovate to obovate-elliptic, 5-8 mm. long, imbricate in bud, the outermost subcucullate, rufous-tomentose; petals narrowly oblong, scarcely longer than the calyx-lobes, subglabrous, clawed; stamens 10, free, inserted with petals on rim of calyx-tube; filaments about 7 mm. long, pubescent; anthers ovate, about 1 mm. long, versatile, bilocular, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary ovate-oblong, stipitate from base of calyx-tube, pubescent, the style short, the stigma small. Legume oblong-orbicular, usually 5-6 cm. long and about 4 cm. wide, compressed, short-stipitate, densely covered with sharp prickles, tardily dehiscent; seeds usually 2, ovoid, about 2 cm. long, grayish.
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Distribution
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Widely distributed in world tropics, apparently native to eastern Asiatic region.
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Specimen
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CANAL ZONE: Fort Sherman, Standley 3I2I3. CHIRIQUI: San Bartolome, Woodson C Schery 943. COCLE: Santa Clara beach, Woodson, Allen & Seibert I703. COLON: Fat6, Pittier 3938. PANAMA: Bella Vista, Killip 12005, Standley 253I0; San Jose Island of Pearl Islands, Johnston 722.
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Note
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A very distinctive plant, easily distinguished from all other species in Central America except C. Bonduc (- C. major) by its strand habitat, dense armament, and characteristic legume. It often forms impassible thickets on the Pacific shores of Panama, where it is studiously avoided by the passer-by.
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