Diagnostic description ⁶

Caesalpinia ciliata (Bergius ex Wikstr.)Urb., Symb. Antill. 2: 275. 1900.

Fig. 94. D-F

Basionym: Guilandina ciliata Bergius ex Wikstr.

Synonym: Caesalpinia bonduc sensu Urb.

Guilandina melanosperma Eggers

Caesalpinia divergens Urb.

Scandent shrub, with many lateral branches along the main stem, attainig 6 m in length. Stems cylindrical, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, densely spiny. Leaves bipinnate, paripinnate, 20-35 × 10-28 cm; pinnae 3-10 pairs, opposite; leaflets 4-8 pairs per pinna, opposite, 1.5-3 × 1-1.7 cm, elliptical, ovate, or rounded, chartaceous, glabrous or puberulent, the apex rounded, mucronate, the base obtuse or cuneate, slightly unequal, the margins entire, revolute, ciliate; upper surface dull; lower surface with the midvein prominent; petiolules short, cylindrical, tomentose; petioles and rachis spiny; stipules lanceolate, acuminate, 0.5-1 mm long. Flowers functionally unisexual, in axillary or terminal racemes; rachis tomentose and densely spiny; bracts lanceolate, 3.5-6 mm long, deciduous. Calyx campanulate, 4-5 mm long, tomentose, the sepals reflexed, oblong. Petals yellow, 4.5-6.5 mm long, spathulate; stamens 10, four of which are fertile in the staminate flowers, all sterile in the pistillate flowers; ovary sessile, rudimentary in the staminate flower, the stigma terminal. Legumes oblong to almost rounded, 5-7.5 × 3-5.5 cm, semiinflated, sparsely spiny, tardily dehiscent along both sutures. Seeds 1-2, ovoid or rounded, 1.5-2 cm long, yellow to orange-brown or less frequently black.

Phenology: Flowering from March to August and fruiting in June.

Status: Native, rather common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 4134; 4227; 4290; 11522; Britton, N.L. et al. 116; 1678; Britton, N.L. 5047; Fosberg, F.R. 54063; Rose, J.N. et al. 3224; Shafer, J.A. 2819

Distribution ⁷

Distribution: Along the sandy coasts of the littoral zone. Also on Caja de Muerto, Cayo Ratones, Culebra, Icacos, Mona, Vieques, Anegada, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; the Bahamas, Hispaniola, and throughout the Lesser Antilles.

Public Forests: Guánica, Mona, and Piñones.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10351146
2. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10359093
3. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10351148
4. (c) Josh Noseworthy, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5315/6920143980_e24264583b_b.jpg
5. (c) "<a href=""http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12-75-39-00"">ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/came15_001_lhp.jpg
6. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435329
7. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435822

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