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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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PITHECOLOBIUM SAMAN (Jacq.) Benth.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Hook. Lond. Jour. Bot. 3:216. 1844.
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Synonym
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Mimosa Saman Jacq. Fragm. Bot. 15, pI. 9. 1800. Inga cinerea H. & B. ex Willd. Sp. P1. 4:1024. 1806, fide Benth. Mimosa pubifera Poir. in Lam. Encycl. Meth. Suppl. 1:47. 1810. inga salitaris HBK. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 6:304. 1824, fide Benth. Calliandra tubulosa Benth. in Hook. Lond. Jour. Bot. 3:101. 1844, fide Benth. Pithecolobium cinereum Benth. loc. cit. 216. 1844. ?Acacia Propinqua A. Rich. Ess. Fl. Cub. 466. 1845, fide Benth. Calliandra Saman Griseb. FL. Brit. W. Ind. 225. 1861. Albizzia Saman F. Muell. Sel. Extra-Trop. P1. 27. 1891, fide Rock, Legum. P1. Hawaii. Feuilleea Saman Ktze. Rev. Gen. P1. 1:189. 1891. Enterolobium Saman Prain ex King, in Jour. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 662:252. 1897. Samanea Saman Merrill, in Jour. Wash. Acad. 6:46. 1916.
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Description
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A large, spreading, unarmed tree, the branchlets aureo-pubescent becoming glabrate, sparingly lenticellate. Leaves large, twice-compound, the pinnae 2-6 pairs, each pinna with 2-8 pairs of leaflets (terminal pinnae usually with the more numerous leaflets); petioles mostly 4-6 cm. long, canescent- or yellowish-tomen- tose, somewhat sulcate above; primary rachis (petiolar extension) 4-6 cm. long, similar to the petiole, bearing at or just below insertions of each pair of pinnae a small, sessile, subcupuliform, laterally extended gland; axis of the pinna like the primary rachis except the glands between (slightly below) insertions of the leaflet pairs smaller; leaflets asymmetrically ovate, oblong or obovate, up to about 4 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, obtuse or rounded apically, obliquely obtuse or rounded basally, puberulent or subglabrous and lustrous above, yellow-tomentulose below; stipules caducous. Inflorescence of 1 to few pedunculate umbels axillary and sub- terminal on the branchlets; peduncles at anthesis 4-8 cm. long, tomentose, sulcate; umbels congested, the pedicels mostly 1-3 mm. long (except central flower sessile.); bracts (except central flower) lanceolate, about 3 mm. long. Flowers whitish or pinkish, dimorphic; central (sessile) flower of umbel larger, persistent, its calyx campanulate, with 10 teeth, about 5 mm. long and 3-4 mm. wide, its staminal column gross and thick but the many stamens relatively short, its ovary ovulate but comparatively underdeveloped, this flower surrounded by 5 oblanceolate bracts about 5 mm. long; remaining (pedicellate) flowers first to fall, their calyx funnel- form, about 5 mm. long and only 1-2 mm. wide, 5-toothed, aureo-tomentose; their corolla funnelform, about 1 cm. long, valvate, aureo-pubescent apically only; their stamens about 3.5 cm. long, the staminal-tube included; their ovaries sessile, subglabrous except pubescent at base of style, the style becoming more or less glabrous apically and about equalling the stamens. Legume linear or linear-oblong, reported as much as 20 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, straight or slightly curved, glabrate, the valves thick, the margins prominent, indented and septate between the seeds, the seeds transverse.
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Habit
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tree
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Distribution
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Mexico, Central America, South America: naturalized in West Indies and Old World tropics.
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Specimen
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BOCAS DEL TORO: Almirante, Cooper 442. CANAL ZONE: several localities, sterile speci- mens. HERRERA: Divisa, Allen 4433. VERAGUAS: Santa Fe, Allen 4437.
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Note
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A well-known and frequently abundant species in Central America, the leaves and pods of which are often relished by stock. The wood is of local importance and the pulp of the pods is said to be edible. The most common English name for this species is "rain tree."
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Common
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rain tree
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Tag
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Project Name
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