Tabebuia billbergii subsp. billbergii

  • Authority

    Gentry, Alwyn H. 1992. Bignoniaceae--part II (Tribe Tecomeae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 25: 1-370. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Bignoniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Tabebuia billbergii subsp. billbergii

  • Type

    Type. Colombia. Bolívar: Cartagena, Billberg 114 (B*, not seen).

  • Synonyms

    Tecoma billbergii Bureau & K.Schum.

  • Description

    Subspecies Description - Shrub or tree 1-15 m tall, the branchlets terete, glabrescent. Leaves palmately 3-5-foliolate, the leaflets narrowly ovate, acute to long-acuminate, the base rounded, the leaflets to 9 cm long and 4 cm wide, usually much smaller, the terminal leaflet larger, the laterals smaller, entire or somewhat serrate, membranaceous to chartaceous, inconspicuously scattered-lepidote above and below, glabrescent above or simple-puberulous along the midvein, below generally glabrescent, usually with some simple trichomes around the margins of the domatia in the secondary nerve axils, drying olive-gray to black; petiolules to 2 cm long, the laterals shorter, the petiole to 5 cm long, slender, inconspicuously lepidote and puberulous to glabrescent. Inflorescence with few flowers (to 5) clustered at the end of a branchlet, the pedicels to 5 mm long, densely tannish-to-mentose, the resting buds sessile, tannish mealy pubescent, bracts and bracteoles inconspicuous. Flowers with the calyx campanulate, 5-dentate, 6-7 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, pubescent with stellate trichomes, light tan, these dense at base and along the five ribs descending from the teeth, calyx surface brown or blackish, visible toward the margin between the ribs; corolla lemon-yellow with reddish lines in throat, tubular-infundibuliform, 3-5.5 cm long, 1-1.4 cm wide at mouth of tube, the tube 2.5-3.8 cm long, the lobes 0.7-1.5 cm long, glabrous outside, inside somewhat sparsely pubescent with long multi-celled trichomes in throat, at least along the ridges; stamens didynamous, the thecae divariacate, 2 mm long; pistil 1.7-1.8 cm long, the ovary linear, 3 mm long, 0.7 mm wide, lepidote, the ovules 2-seriate in each locule; disk pulvinate, 0.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Fruit a linear-oblong capsule, subterete, 14-19 cm long, 6-7 mm wide, scattered lepidote, usually also with very few scattered minute simple trichomes, drying dark; seeds thin, bialate, 0.4-0.5 cm long, 1.3-1.5 cm wide, the wings hyaline-membranaceous, conspicuously demarcated from seed body.

  • Discussion

    The extremely hard heavy wood is much used in construction and in local handicrafts. A very characteristic element of the Caribbean coastal forests of northern Colombia and Venezuela, where it grows in drier forests than does any other species of the genus. This is the only yellow-flowered Tabebuia species to reach the West Indies (other than Trinidad and Tobago), although the single record from Cuba may represent a chance introduction, perhaps via hurricane. This is the national tree of Venezuela according to Steyermark (1973).

  • Common Names

    puy, pui, curari, curarira, araguaney, acapro, flor amarilla, cañaguato bianco

  • Objects

    Specimen - 01314367, Fr. León 16339, Tabebuia billbergii (Bureau & K.Schum.) Standl., Bignoniaceae (293.0), Magnoliophyta; West Indies, Cuba

    Specimen - 1314368, M. Arnoldo-Broeders 3760, Tabebuia billbergii (Bureau & K.Schum.) Standl., Bignoniaceae (293.0), Magnoliophyta; West Indies, Curaçao

    Specimen - 1314372, I. Boldingh 7204, Tabebuia billbergii (Bureau & K.Schum.) Standl., Bignoniaceae (293.0), Magnoliophyta; West Indies, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bonaire

    Specimen - 1314368, M. Arnoldo-Broeders 3760, Tabebuia billbergii (Bureau & K.Schum.) Standl., Bignoniaceae (293.0), Magnoliophyta; West Indies, Curaçao

  • Distribution

    Dry forests of northern Colombia and Venezuela, the Dutch Antilles, and the southwestern tip of Cuba.

    Cuba South America| Granma Cuba South America| Aruba South America| Bonaire South America| Curaçao South America| Colombia South America| Atlántico Colombia South America| Bolívar Colombia South America| César Colombia South America| Guajira Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Anzoátegui Venezuela South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Brazil South America| Falcón Venezuela South America| Guárico Venezuela South America| Lara Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America|