Calliandra Species Pages

Calliandra carcerea

Rupert C. Barneby

45. Calliandra carcerea Standley & Steyermark, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 23(4): 161. 1944. — “Guatemala: Dept. El Progreso ... between Calera and middle slopes of Volcán Siglo, alt. 2,000-2,200 meters, January 20, 1942, Julian A. Stevermark 42985.” — Holotypus (mounted on 2 sheets), F! = F Neg. 53831, 53832.

Arborescent shrubs of unrecorded stature with dense hard wood, the terete gray virgate long-shoots hirsutulous when young but early glabrate, the lf-axes and peduncles more densely gray-hirsutulous but the firm, prominently venulose lfts facially glabrous lustrous, ciliolate, the peduncles arising singly from condensed axillary brachyblasts; phyllotaxy distichous. Stipules narrowly triangular ±1.2-2.5 mm, weakly striate, persistent. Lf-formula i/7-10; petioles 6-17 mm, at middle 0.7-1.1 mm diam; rachis of longer pinnae 4.5-6.5 cm, the longer interfoliolar segments 5-9 mm; lft-pulvinules ±0.45-0.6 x 0.5 mm, crosswrinkled; lfts proximally decrescent, inequilaterally ovate or elliptic-ovate from semicordate base, obtusely or acutely deltate at apex, the distal ones ±11— 22 x 5-8 mm, 2.2-2.8 times as long as wide; venation pinnate and obscurely palmate-pinnate, one weak posteRíor primary nerve in some lfts produced ± to mid-blade. Peduncles 15-23 mm, apparently ebracteate; capitula ±12-20-fld, the receptacle not more than 1.5 mm diam, the fls homomorphic; floral bracts linear-attenuate ±1.3-2.4 mm, tardily deciduous; pedicels ±0.3 mm; perianth glabrous except for few loose hairs about orifice of calyx and tip of corolla-lobes, the calyx-tube weakly striate, the corolla not; calyx campanulate ±2.5-2.8 x 1.4 mm, the triangular obtuse teeth ±0.5 mm; corolla ±6.5 mm; androecium ±20-merous, vivid red, ±20 mm, the tube 9-10 mm, distinctly exserted. Pods in profile linear-oblanceolate, straight, including attenuate base 9-11 cm x 8-9 mm, 5-6-seeded, the sutural keels in dorsal view ±1.5 mm wide, thinly hirsute, the valves leathery, glabrous, micropapillate; dehiscence and seeds not known.

In unreported habitat, known by one collection from quebradas of Volcán Siglo at ±2100 m in Sa. de las Minas, depto. El Progreso, Guatemala. — Fl. XII-I.— Tamarindo de montaña.

In the protologue C. carcerea was described as resembling Antillean C. purpurea, but more densely pubescent. This is not universally true, and it is likely that C. carcerea, when better known, will prove to be an outlying disjunct form of C. purpurea sens. lat., different if at all in slightly longer pinnae and slightly more numerous leaflets.

The epithet carcerea (of prison) is unexplained. I conjecture it may be a misreading of calcarea (of limestone) and allude to the town of Calera (lime pit) near which the species was discovered.

References: [Article] Barneby, Rupert C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: A generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74: 1-223.