Tecoma garrocha Hieron.
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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. Catamarca. Lorentz & Hieronymus 417 (B*, lectotype, K).
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Synonyms
Stenolobium guarracha Hieron. ex Bureau & K.Schum., Gelseminum garrocha (Hieron.) Kuntze, Gelseminum garrocha var. bicolor Kuntze, Stenolobium garrocha (Hieron.) R.E.Fr.
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Description
Species Description - Shrub or small tree 2-5 m tall, the branchlets slightly lepidote to inconspicuously and minutely puberulous. Leaves pinnate, (3-)5-9-foliolate (occasionally also with a pair of simple leaves at bases of branchlets), the leaflets rather remotely serrate with the shallow teeth obtuse or the tooth tips slightly reflexed, lanceolate to narrowly oblong-elliptic, apically usually obtuse, occasionally narrowly acutish, especially the terminal one, basally cuneate, the laterals 0.5-5 cm long, 0.3-1.5 cm wide, the terminal slightly larger (to 5.5 x 1.5 cm), lepidote or lepidote-punctate above and below, otherwise glabrous, the rachis slightly canaliculate to very slightly winged, the petiole mostly 1-3 cm long, glabrous except a few minute trichomes along adaxial groove, the lateral petiolules absent or very rarely to 1-2 mm long on basal leaflets. Inflorescence a terminal raceme, often borne on short leafy branches along the rather wand-like stems, glabrous or very inconspicuously lepidote or puberulous. Flowers with the calyx cupular, evenly 5-denticulate, the 1-mm long teeth sometimes slightly apiculate, 4-5 mm long (including teeth), 2-3 mm wide, very sparsely lepidote, otherwise glabrous except the more or less ciliate margins; corolla with yellow to orange tube and red or red-orange lobes, very narrowly tubular-infundibuliform, slightly and gradually expanded above a 1-1.5 cm long basal tube, 4-5 cm long, 0.7-0.9 cm wide at mouth of tube, the tube 3-4.5 cm long, the lobes 0.5-1 cm long, tube completely glabrous outside and inside except for glandular trichomes below stamen insertion, the lobes ciliate-margined, especially puberulous in sinuses; stamens exserted or subexserted, the thecae divaricate, 3-3.5 mm long, glabrous, the connective slightly apiculately extended; pistil 4-5 cm long, the ovary linear-oblong, 3-4 mm long, 1 mm wide, lepidote; disk annular-pulvinate, 0.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide. Fruit a linear capsule, tapering at ends, the calyx persistent, 7-11 cm long, 7-9 mm wide, glabrous or with a few inconspicuous lepidote scales, also with scattered inconspicuous lenticels; seeds thin, bialate, 6-7 mm long, 14-18 mm wide, the wings hyaline-membranaceous, sharply demarcated from seed body.
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Discussion
This is perhaps no more than a southern form of polymorphic T. arequipensis from which it differs in more lanceolate, acute-tipped, nearly always uniformly sessile leaflets and a shorter corolla tube. This is the older name should the two be treated as conspecific. A form from Jujuy, Argentina (e.g., Eyerdam & Beetle 22342, Schreiter 5117) is reported to have the corolla reddish orange outside, but the corolla is longer (to 5.5 cm) and broader (to 1.3 cm wide at mouth) than in other T. garrocha collections. The anthers are held just inside the tube mouth. These plants are also unusual in having a preponderance of simple and 3-foliolate leaves. Since the floral characters are intermediate between those of T. garrocha and T. stans, I suspect that these may represent hybridization, but it is possible that they represent an incipient independent switch of a population of T. stans to hummingbird pollination.
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Common Names
garrocha, guaran colorado
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Distribution
Dry Andean slopes, mostly along streambeds, northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia; 700-2900 m.
Bolivia South America| Chuquisaca Bolivia South America| Potosí Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America| Tarija Bolivia South America| Argentina South America| Catamarca Argentina South America| Jujuy Argentina South America| La Rioja Argentina South America| Salta Argentina South America| Tucuman Argentina South America|