Tabebuia pulcherrima Sandwith
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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. Argentina. Misiones, Bertoni 2937 (holotype, K).
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Synonyms
Handroanthus pulcherrimus (Sandwith) S.O.Grose, Tecoma petropolitana Glaz.
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Description
Species Description - Small to large tree 3-25 m tall, the twigs subtetragonal to terete, when young finely yellowish stellate-tomentose with thick-stellate trichomes, more or less glabrescent on older branchlets but with persistent lepidote scales. Leaves palmately 5(-7)-foliolate, the leaflets oblong-elliptic to obovate, rounded to short-cuspidate at apex, obtuse to rounded at base, the terminal leaflet 1.5-8 cm long, l-4(-4.8) cm wide, lateral leaflets progressively smaller, entire, membranaceous, lepidote and sparsely stellate puberulous above, more or less glabrate except the main nerves, below persistently and very densely whitish stellate-tomentose, also with several dark-drying plateshaped glands on the lamina surface near midvein; terminal petiolule 0.5-4 cm long, the laterals shorter, the petiole 1-6.5 cm long, lepidote and minutely stellate-pubescent. Inflorescence a rather contracted few-flowered terminal panicle, light tannish tomentose with stellate trichomes, the pedicels 0.5-1 cm long, the bracts and bracteoles linear 6-12 mm long. Flowers with the calyx tubular-campanulate, unevenly 5-lobed, 12-20 mm long, 5-12 mm wide, densely pilose with reddish-golden dendroid trichomes < 1 mm long, sometimes with a few dark-drying plateshaped glands near margin; corolla yellow with reddish pencilling in throat, when dried with the venation reticulate to the margins of the lobes, the dried tube and lobes indistinguishable in color, tubular-infundibuliform, 4-7 cm long, the tube 3-5.5 cm long and 1-2 cm wide at mouth of tube, the lobes 1-1.5 cm long, glabrous outside, the lobes more or less ciliate, inside rather densely pilose with flexuous trichomes in floor and throat, glandular-pubescent at level of stamen insertion; stamens didynamous, the thecae divergent to divaricate, 3 mm long; pistil ca. 3 cm long, the ovary linear-oblong, 4 mm long, 1 mm wide, glabrous, the ovules 8-seriate in each locule; disk annular-pulvinate, 1 mm long, 3 mm wide. Fruit a linear-cylindric capsule, tapering to the base and apex, 10-18(-22 fide Sandwith & Hunt, 1974) cm long, 0.4-0.8 cm wide, the valves thin-coriaceous, finely yellowish stellate-tomentose, partially glabrescent to reveal a smooth barely striate surface; seeds thin, bialate, 0.2-0.4 cm long, 0.9-1.5 cm wide, the wings hyaline-membranaceous, clearly demarcated from the seed body.
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Discussion
Vegetatively characterized by the nearly white leaf undersurface from the very dense fine tomentum and also the darker glandular areas scattered near the midvein. This indumentum is much finer than in other southern species and similar to that of Amazonian T. incana or Guiana Highland T. subtilis. If Glaziou’s nomen nudum, Tecoma petropolitana, is correctly referred here, the range is extended significantly northward, but there is doubt about the locality information on Glaziou’s collections.
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Common Names
ipe da praia, ipe-amarelo, ipe, lapacho amarillo, lapachito, mapachillo
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Distribution
Paraná basin of Misiones and Corrientes, Argentina and adjacent southern Paraguay and Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina), where mostly recorded as growing over rocks; also common in coastal restingas of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul; below 300 m elevation.
Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Sul Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| Paraguay South America| Alto Paraná Paraguay South America| Misiones Paraguay South America| Argentina South America| Corrientes Argentina South America| Misiones Argentina South America|