Catalpa longissima (Jacq.) Dum.Cours.
-
Authority
Gentry, Alwyn H. 1992. Bignoniaceae--part II (Tribe Tecomeae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 25: 1-370. (Published by NYBG Press)
-
Family
Bignoniaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Type
Type. Hispaniola. Jacquin (?) s.n. (LINN 776.1), fide Paclt, 1952; type illustration. Jacquin, Sel. stirp. amer. hist. t. 176, fig. 78 (seed only). 1763.
-
Synonyms
Bignonia longissima Jacq., Bignonia longisiliqua Bertol. ex Spreng., Bignonia tenuisiliqua Vahl, Bignonia quercus Lam., Bignonia pseudoquercus Tussac, Catalpa longisiliqua (Jacq.) Cham., Macrocatalpa longissima (Jacq.) Britton
-
Description
Species Description - Trees (3-)4-20 m tall, the slender branchlets terete with small round lenticels, lepidote, occasionally minutely puberulous. Leaves simple, usually opposite, sometimes in whorls of 3, elliptic to narrowly ovate, typically elliptic-lanceolate, the apex acute or gradually and sharply acuminate to rounded, sometimes somewhat apiculate, base rounded, 1.5-14 cm long, 0.6-4.5 cm wide, chartaceous, somewhat lepidote, otherwise glabrous or occasionally minutely puberulous on midvein below, strongly glandular at the base of the midvein below, the slender petioles 0.5-4 cm long, lepidote. Inflorescence a lax, usually few-flowered, panicle, the branches lepidote, the bracts minute, linear, ca. 1 mm long. Flowers with calyx 2-lobed, split to the base, the lobes broadly rounded but often apiculate, 4-7 mm long, ca. 4-5 mm wide, lepidote; corolla white with yellow in throat, sometimes also with purple markings in throat, campanulate, 1.4-2.4 cm long, 0.5-1 cm across at mouth of tube, the tube 1-2 cm long, strongly bilabiate, the lower lobes longer than upper two, 0.8-1 cm long, generally glabrous, with tiny sessile glands on lobes, with very short subsessile glandular trichomes only on filament bases; stamens two, the thecae divaricate, 1.5 mm long, also with three minute staminodia; pistil ca. 1 cm long, the ovary oblong-conical, densely lepidote, ca. 2 mm long, 1 mm wide, the style shortly puberulous in lower half; disk short, plate-shaped, ca. 2.5 mm wide. Fruit a linear capsule, 26-67 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, longitudinally striate-ridged, lepidote; seeds strongly plumose-pubescent, the body linear-fusiform, 7-10 mm wide, 1 mm long, pilose on all sides with up to 1 mm long trichomes.
-
Discussion
The most widespread Antillean Catalpa and the only one cultivated outside its native range. Easily distinguished from the Asian and North American species by its much narrower leaves and by the narrower fruits with the seeds plumose on all sides. Distinct from other Antillean species by its generally longer and/or more acute-tipped leaves. One very atypical sterile collection (Schrenk 17 from Tabara, Dominican Republic) with broadly ovate leaves to 9 x 6 cm and the twigs, petioles and midvein beneath densely puberulous, is not included in the above description.
-
Common Names
roble, roble de olor, roble tubano, chêne, chêne noir, bois chêne, yokewood, mastwood, french-oak, radegonde, chêne d’Amerique, chêne noir, poix doux marron
-
Distribution
Jamaica and Hispaniola. Introduced and more or less spontaneous in the Lesser Antilles (at least Martinique) but not Puerto Rico nor Cuba; sometimes cultivated elsewhere. Sea level to 500 m elevation.
Jamaica South America| Manchester Jamaica South America| Portland Jamaica South America| Saint Andrew Jamaica South America| Saint Thomas Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Dominican Republic South America| Azua Dominican Republic South America| Barahona Dominican Republic South America| La Vega Dominican Republic South America| Peravia Dominican Republic South America| Samaná Dominican Republic South America| San Cristóbal Dominican Republic South America| Martinique South America|