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(Last Modified On 11/15/2012)
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(Last Modified On 11/15/2012)
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Species
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CALLIANDRA CONFUSA Sprague & Riley
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PlaceOfPublication
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Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. 1923:371. 1923.
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Synonym
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Calliandra similis Sprague & Riley, loc. cit. 372. 1923. Anneslia confusa Britt. & Rose, in N. Am. Fl. 23:70. 1928. Anneslia sinilis Britt. & Rose, loc. cit. 71. 1928.
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Description
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Small tree or shrub, the branchlets lightly hirsute to subglabrous, longitudinally striate. Leaves large, bipinnate, the pinnae 10-20 or more (usually about 15) pairs, opposite, the leaflets numerous (30-60, usually 40-50, pairs); petiole usually about 2 cm. long, pubescent to subglabrous, sulcate above, eglandular; rachis sim- ilar, 8-15 cm. long; pinnular rachis about 4 cm. long, ridged above, lightly pubes- cent; leaflets linear, usually about 5-6 mm. long and 1 mm. wide, acute or narrowly obtuse apically, obliquely truncate basally, glabrous above and below except ap- pressed-ciliate on the margins, only the midvein prominent, this more or less central; stipules linear-lanceolate, 4-5 mm. long, glabrous, striate, caducous. In- florescence a terminal raceme or panicle; peduncles mostly 5-8 mm. long, geminate or few-fasciculate, subglabrous; pedicels 2-4 mm. long; bracts lanceolate-caducous. Flowers in few-flowered umbels, purplish-red; calyx broadly campanulate, scarcely 2 mm. long, glabrous, 5-toothed, the teeth broad; corolla 5-lobed, cleft almost to the base, the lobes elliptic or oblong, 5-6 mm. long, glabrous, the tube about 1 mm. long; stamens as much as 6 cm. long, united below into a short staminal tube 2-3 mm. long; ovary glabrous. Legume almost 8 cm. long and about 1 cm. wide, strigose-pubescent, dehiscing as typical of the genus.
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Habit
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tree shrub
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Distribution
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Panama to northern Central America and southern Mexico; northern South America?
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Specimen
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CHIRIQUI: Boquete, Terry & Terry 1637; Woodson & Scbery 757; R. Chiriqui Viejo, G. l P. White 112; Allen 4651.
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Note
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This species is a member of the "Houstoniana complex" (HOUSTONIANAE of Britton and Rose) very common in Mexico and to a lesser extent in northern Cen- tral America. There are probably 3 or 4 tenable species in that area, of which C. Houstoniana dating from 1768 and C. grandiflora dating from 1788 are the best known (C. anomala and C. strigillosa of the early 1800's may also be "good" species, but several additional "species" in this group, proposed by Britton and Rose and others, seem anything but clear-cut). The southern extension of this com- plex in Central America (Honduras to Panama) seems to be confined to the single species here listed. It is impossible to say without examining the type -whether or not the earlier name, C. calothyrsus Meissn., for a South American specimen (col- lected in 1846 by Kegel in Surinam), can apply to the entity found in Panama. In describing C. con fusa and C. similis, Sprague and Riley seem to have hit upon two extremes of the same entity. Our cited specimens and others from Costa Rica to Guatemala appear to be quite intermediate between characteristics described for these names. Hence it has been necessary to regard C. similis as a synonym of C. confusa. C. comfusa is similar to C. grandiflora, but lacks the floral pubescence of that species. It is quite distinct from other species of Calliandra occurring in Panama, being the only species there having a terminal, racemose or paniculate type of in- florescence. The plant is very attractive because of the showy purplish-red flowers and fine foliage, and deserves attention as an ornamental.
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