Tabebuia heptaphylla (Vell.) Toledo

  • 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 heptaphylla (Vell.) Toledo

  • Type

    Type illustration. Brazil. In silvis maritimis, Ic. Fl. flumin. 6: t. 48. 1831 (1827).

  • Synonyms

    Bignonia heptaphylla Vell., Tecoma ipe Mart., Tecoma eximia Miq., Tecoma curialis Saldanha, Tecoma ipe Mart. ex K.Schum., Tecoma ipe var. desinens Sprague, Tecoma ipe f. parviflora Sprague, Tecoma ipe f. grandiflora Sprague, Tabebuia ipe (Mart.) Standl., Tabebuia eximia (Miq.) Sandwith, Tabebuia avellanedae var. paulensis Toledo, Tabebuia impetiginosa var. lepidota (Bureau) Toledo, Handroanthus eximius (Miq.) Mattos, Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Mart.) Mattos, Handroanthus impetiginosus var. lepidotus (Bureau) Mattos

  • Description

    Species Description - Tree (2-)4-30 m tall, to 65 cm dbh, the bark shallowly to deeply longitudinally furrowed, the twigs subterete, glabrescent, the apices usually mealy pubescent with thick-stellate trichomes. Leaves palmately 5-7-foliolate, the leaflets broadly lanceolate to ovate or oblong-elliptic, more or less acuminate, cuneate to rounded or truncate at base, the terminal leaflet 3-16 cm long, 1.7-6 cm wide, the laterals progressively smaller, more or less evenly serrate even when mature, membranaceous to chartaceous, somewhat lepidote above and below, usually pubescent with simple trichomes in the axils of the lateral nerves below, drying black or blackish or dark greenish; terminal petiolule 2-5 cm long, the laterals progressively smaller, the petiole 4-11 cm long, glabrous or glabrescent, when young usually with a few lepidote scales and thick-stellate trichomes at least at apex above. Inflorescence a terminal panicle, usually more or less congested, the branches usually whitish or tannish from the mealy pubescence of thick-stellate trichomes, sometimes completely glabrescent and blackish. Flowers with the calyx cupular, truncate or slightly and bluntly 5-lobed, 4-11 mm long, 3-8 mm wide, mealy pubescent with thick-stellate trichomes or glabrescent except for lepidote scales, drying tannish when pubescent, black when glabrescent; corolla magenta, the throat yellow at anthesis, fading to purplish, tubular-campanulate, 4-6.5 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide at mouth of tube, the tube 3-5.5 cm long, the lobes 0.8-1.5 cm long, puberulous with more or less irregularly branched multicellular trichomes outside, mostly glabrous inside, only slightly glandular-pubescent at stamen insertion; stamens didynamous, the thecae divaricate, 3 mm long; ovary oblong, 3 mm long, 1.2 mm wide, more or less lepidote; disk cupuliform, 0.5 mm long, 2.5 mm wide. Fruit an elongate-cylindrical capsule, attenuate at both ends, strongly striate-ridged, 9-47 cm long, 0.7-1.7 cm wide, the valves coriaceous, drying black or blackish, glabrous except for a few scattered inconspicuous lepidote scales; seeds thin, bialate, 0.5-0.9 cm long, 1.8-3.2 cm wide, the wings hyaline-membranaceous, conspicuously demarcated from seed body.

  • Discussion

    Uses. Frequently planted as an ornamental. The bark, rich in lapachol and related compounds, is reputed to cure cancer. The hard heavy wood is the most important timber of eastern Paraguay. This species is extremely closely related to widespread T. impetiginosa. The two have been much confused and material of each has been treated as a variety of the other under a variety of names as attested by the excessive list of varietal synonyms for both species. Although none of the differentiating characters is very strong, the two are largely allopatric and seem to represent two different taxa when cultivated together (see Fabris, 1965). There is an apparent area of overlap between the two species around the fringes of the chaco region, but here they tend to be ecologically separated, at least in Bolivia, with T. heptaphylla confined to wet swampy areas while T. impetiginosa occurs in well-drained deciduous forest (S. Beck, pers. comm.). In the area of overlap in central Paraguay T. heptaphylla is usually a larger tree with more deeply furrowed bark, has thinner lighter-colored mostly smaller regularly serrate leaflets, thinner-valved smaller fruits (mostly 20-25 cm by 1.5-2.5 cm vs. 25-35 cm by 2-3 cm) and blooms later (late June-October vs. April-early August) (W. Hahn, pers. comm.); T. heptaphylla prefers moist lowland forest while T. impetiginosa mostly occurs in drier rocky areas.

  • Common Names

    ipe roxo, ipe cabroe, pau d’arco roxo, lapacho, lapacho negro, taiiy zaiyú, lapacho negro, ipe, lapacho, lapacho morado, lapacho crespo

  • Distribution

    The mata atlantica formation of coastal Brazil from Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul; also the Paraná drainage of Paraguay and northeastern Argentina and sparsely west to Bolivia in moist areas of the Chaco; below 1000 m elevation.

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