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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 PULCHERRIMA (L.) Sw.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Obs. 166. 1791.
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Synonym
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Poinciana pulcherrima L. Sp. P1. 380. 1753. Poinciana bijuga Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 260. 1790, non L. Poinciana elata Lour. loc. cit. 261. 1790.
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Description
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Lightly or scarcely armed shrub or small tree, the branchlets glabrous. Leaves moderately large, twice-pinnate; petiole 2-8 cm. long, terete, eglandular, glabrous; rachis like petiole, up to 2 or more dm. long; stipules lanceolate, minute, caducous; pinnae up to 8 or more pairs, opposite on the rachis; leaflets about 10 pairs to the pinna, subopposite, mostly oblong, 10-23 mm. long and 5-10 mm. wide, rounded apically, obtuse and somewhat inequilateral basally, glabrous, membranaceous, petiolulate. Inflorescence usually terminal, a corymbose raceme, several- to many-
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Habit
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shrub tree
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Description
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flowered; bracts similar to stipules, caducous; lower pedicels elongate, not uncom- monly 7-8 cm. long, glabrous. Flowers ornamental, red to yellow; calyx-tube narrowly turbinate, 3-4 mm. long, the pedicellar stalk subarticulate a few mm. below the tube; mature calyx-lobes ovate or lanceolate to obovate, about 1 cm. long, glabrous, imbricate in bud, the outer calyx-lobe cucullate and somewhat larger; petals free, obovate, about 2 cm. long, glabrous, clawed; stamens 10, in- serted with petals on rim of calyx-tube, strongly exserted; filaments free, about 5 cm. long, glabrous except basally where viscid-pubescent; anthers ovate, 1-2 mm. long, versatile, bilocular, longitudinally dehiscent; ovary linear, glabrous, stipitate from base of calyx-tube. Legume linear-oblong, up to 12 cm. long, usually some- what wider apically than basally, obliquely acute both apically and basally, short- stipitate, flattened, glabrous, elastically dehiscent; seeds ovate, transverse.
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Distribution
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Widely cultivated or escaped throughout world tropics; probably native in northern Central America.
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Specimen
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OCAS DEL TORO: Changuinola Valley, Dunlap 423; Old Bank Island, von Wedel I860. CANAL ZONE: Balboa, Standley 30834; Paraiso, Standley 30009. PANAMA: Taboga Island, Bro. Celestine 91.
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Note
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An attractive ornamental frequently seen in cultivation in the Canal Zone and other tropical regions. The legume is reported to contain abundant tannin, but it is not a recognized article of commerce as is the "divi-divi" (legume of Caesalpinia coriaria). The leaves have been reported used for fish poison.
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