Tabebuia obovata Urb.
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Authority
Gentry, Alwyn H. 1992. Bignoniaceae--part II (Tribe Tecomeae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 25: 1-370. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Bignoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Haiti. Môrne Bonpere, Buch 710 (B*, NY photo and fragments; lectotype, IJ).
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Synonyms
Tabebuia apiculata Urb. & Ekman, Tabebuia perfae Alain
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Description
Species Description - Shrub or small tree to 8 m tall, dichotomously branched, the branchlets terete to subangulate, lepidote. Leaves unifoliolate (occasionally in part 3-foliolate), elliptic to narrowly elliptic to obovate, rounded to subacutish at apex, usually minutely apiculate, rounded to broadly cuneate at base, 0.8-5.5 cm long, 0.5-3.2 cm wide (in part to 8 x 4 cm in Ekman 9905), thick coriaceous, conspicuously lepidote above, very densely lepidote below, sometimes discolorous and lighter below from the lepidote scales, often some of the scales larger and drying dark so the undersurface appearing glandular punctate, margin entire, secondary venation brochidodromous and more or less raised below; petiole slender, 0.2-1 cm long, jointed at apex, the lateral leaflets (when rarely present) sessile. Inflorescence one to several terminal flowers, the pedicel 0.6-1.5 cm long, bibracteolate. Flowers with the calyx campanulate, shortly bilabiate, 8-13 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, drying blackish or brown; corolla whitish to magenta, narrowly tubular-infundibuliform, 2.5-5 cm long, 0.7-1.5 cm wide at mouth of tube, the tube 2-3.5 cm long, the lobes 0.5-1 cm long, glabrous outside, the lobes ciliate, sparsely puberulous with stiff trichomes on lobes and more densely in floor of tube, pilose at level of stamen insertion; anther thecae divaricate, 2-3 mm long; ovary oblong, 2-3 mm long, 1 mm wide, densely lepidote; disk annular-pulvinate, 1.5-2 mm long, 2-3 mm wide. Fruit longitudinally multicostate, narrowly cylindrical-fusiform, 5-10 cm long, 0.7-0.9 cm wide, densely lepidote, drying blackish, calyx persistent; seeds not seen.
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Discussion
This is essentially a unifoliolate form of variable T. berteroi and occasional 3-foliolate leaves suggest that the two are not very distinct. They appear to intergrade (i.e., a few 3-foliolate leaflets in mostly unifoliolate populations) near Santiago, Dominican Republic (e.g., Valeur 968, with two completely unifoliolate duplicates at Kew but one (of two) branchlets of the Smithsonian collection partly 3-foliolate) and in northern Haiti (including Ekman H4956 from the type locality). The population on Catalina Island and the nearby coastal region has been segregated as T. perfae and has generally smaller leaves with more prominent secondary venation below and smaller lighter colored flowers. All of these characters (except the extreme in small calyx) occur independently elsewhere in the range of T. obovata. Tabebuia apiculata, described from sterile material, has the leaf apices more apiculate and the undersurface more whitish than in most collections of T. obovata but is surely not specifically distinct. One collection (Ekman H9905) has some of the leaves much larger (to 8 x 4 cm) but a second branch has normal-sized leaves. The few Cuban collections have the typical leaves of T. obovata and are surely conspecific with the Hispaniolan taxon.
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Common Names
aceituno
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Distribution
Northern Haiti and western Dominican Republic; few collections from eastern Cuba; sea level to 400(-800) m, mostly on limestone or in open pinelands.
Guantánamo Cuba South America| Barahona Dominican Republic South America| Dajabón Dominican Republic South America| Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic South America| Independencia Dominican Republic South America| La Altagracia Dominican Republic South America| La Romana Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Plata Dominican Republic South America| Santiago Dominican Republic South America| Santiago Rodríguez Dominican Republic South America| Haiti South America|