Catalpa macrocarpa (A.Rich.) Ekman ex Urb.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Bignoniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Catalpa macrocarpa (A.Rich.) Ekman ex Urb.

  • Type

    Type. Cuba. Sagra s.n. (P?, not seen), non Wallich, Cat. n. 1662, 1829, nom. nud.

  • Synonyms

    Echites macrocarpus A.Rich., Catalpa punctata Griseb., Catalpa punctata var. pubescens Griseb., Robbia macrocarpa (A.Rich.) Miers, Catalpa punctata var. lepidota Bureau, Macrocatalpa punctata (Griseb.) Britton, Catalpa domingensis Urb. & Ekman, Catalpa obovata Urb., Catalpa punctata var. domingensis (Urb. & Ekman) Paclt, Catalpa punctata f. urbanii Paclt, Macrocatalpa tomentosa Bisse

  • Description

    Species Description - Tree 5-20 m tall, with thick trunk and ridged bark, the slender branchlets terete with usually inconspicuous small round lenticels, lepidote, also usually more or less puberulous. Leaves simple, mostly in whorls of three, also sometimes in part opposite, elliptic, the apex obtuse to rounded, base rounded, 1-7 cm long, 0.7-4 cm wide, chartaceous to coriaceous, lepidote above and below, usually also puberulous below, occasionally glabrous, conspicuously glandular at the base of the midvein below, the petioles 1-2.5(-3) cm long, lepidote and puberulous (rarely glabrous, e.g., Fuertes 218). Inflorescence a sparsely branching usually few-flowered panicle, the branches lepidote, usually also puberulous in part with forked or few-branched trichomes, the bracts linear, to 2 mm long. Flowers with the calyx 2-lobed, split to the base, the lobes rounded, 4-7 mm long, 36 mm wide, lepidote, usually also puberulous; corolla light yellow with red and magenta or orange and brown markings in throat, campanulate, 1-2 cm long, 0.5-1 cm wide at mouth of tube, the tube 0.5-1 cm long, strongly bilabiate, the lower lobes longer than upper two, 0.5-1 cm long, generally glabrous, with tiny sessile glands on lobes; stamens two, the thecae divaricate, 1.5 mm long; also with three minute staminodia; pistil ca. 1 cm long, the ovary oblong, lepidote, 2-2.5 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, the style shortly puberulous toward base; disk reduced, annular-pulvinate, 0.2-0.3 mm long, 1-2 mm wide. Fruit a linear capsule, 11-40(-68) cm long, 2-4(-5) mm wide, longitudinally striate-ridged, lepidote, sometimes also rather strongly pilose; seeds pubescent, linear-fusiform, 8-10(-17) mm wide, 0.7-2 mm long.

  • Discussion

    Most closely related to C. longissima, which it replaces on Cuba. That species differs in white rather than light yellow corollas and in a generally more acute leaf apex. The difference in fruit thickness suggested by Paclt (1952), correlates neither with other characters nor geography and is of no taxonomic importance.

    Pubescence varies greatly in C. macrocarpa but the variation seems essentially continuous; Grisebach’s C. punctata forma pubescens applies to pubescent extremes, but most collections are intermediate and there seems little point in formally recognizing the various pubescence morphs. Bisse’s (1981) elevation of the pubescent form to specific rank as Macrocatalpa tomentosa (Griseb.) Bisse is apparently based on a lapsis of “tomentosa” for “pubescens” and is at any rate invalid since no reference is given for the supposed basionym Catalpa punctata var. tomentosa Griseb.

    I agree with Pack’s reduction of C. domingensis to C. punctata (i.e., C. macrocarpa) but question whether it warrants even varietal recognition. Most Hispaniolan collections can be recognized as having the leaves more coriaceous and with the midvein tending to be impressed above but there are some Hispaniolan collections (e.g., Fuertes 218) that are indistinguishable from glabrous Cuban forms and others (e.g., the type of C. punctata var. dominguensis f. urbanii) that are indistinguishable from pubescent Cuban forms. The differentiating characters suggested by Paclt for var. domingensis do not correlate with geography since petioles in Hispaniola can reach 1-2 cm in length and the seeds of most Hispaniolan collections are just as large as those from Cuba. Moreover, C. obovata, known only from the type and retained as provisionally distinct by Paclt, seems no more than a form of this same taxon with a very slight tendency for the secondary veins to be impressed above. I conclude that all Catalpas with obtuse leaf apices, yellowish flowers and non-intricate lower surface venation are conspecific.

    This species was originally described as an Apocynaceae. Although Echites macrocarpa A. Richard is predated by E. macrocarpa Wallich (Cat. 1662. 1829), the latter is a nomen nudum (see Sprague, 1925) and the basionym “macrocarpa” the appropriate one for the Antillean Catalpa.

  • Common Names

    roble de olor, roblillo

  • Distribution

    Cuba, the Bahamas (Andros Island), and southern Hispaniola, mostly on limestone; sea level to 300 m elevation.

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