Calliandra tergemina (L.) Benth. var. tergemina

  • Authors

    Rupert C. Barneby

  • Authority

    Barneby, Rupert C. 1998. Silk tree, guanacaste, monkey's earring: A generic system for the synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas. Part III. Calliandra. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 74: 1-223.

  • Family

    Mimosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Calliandra tergemina (L.) Benth. var. tergemina

  • Type

    "Habitat in America meridionali." — Holotypus (Howard, 1988: 352): Acacia frutescens non aculeata, flore purpurascente Plumier ed. Burmann, Pl. amer. 5, t. X, fig. 1 (top left + misplaced caption at bottom right). 1755!. — Inga tergemina Willdenow, Sp. Pl

  • Synonyms

    Inga caripensis Willd. ex Humb. & Bonpl., Mimosa tergemina L.

  • Description

    Variety Description - Shrubs and treelets mostly <4 m; petioles very slender 0.3-0.5 mm diam; lfts thin-textured, seldom over 3 cm, obliquely obovate to inequilaterally elliptic- (ob)lanceolate, either obtuse or acute; peduncles (5-)11-28 x 0.3-0.4 mm; pedicels at most 0.25 mm, commonly 0; perianth glabrous; calyx 0.6-1.2 x 0.4—0.75(-l), the teeth 0.1-0.4 mm; corolla 4.3-7 mm; filaments bicolored, pink distally; pods 5.5-12 x 0.65-0.8 cm; seeds in broad view 7-9 x 3.5^.5 mm, pleurogram 0.

    Distribution and Ecology - In drought-deciduous brush-woodland and savanna margins, sometimes invading cleared pasture, below 300 m, locally plentiful in the Lesser Antilles (Dominica to Grenada) and along the Caribbean coast of Venezuela from Paria peninsula in Sucre w. through Distrito Federal and Carabobo to e. Lara; an immature specimen from state of Bolívar at 7°22'N, 61°49'W (E. Sanoja 1185, NY) is provisionally referred here, but its varietal status is uncertain. — Map 36. — Fl. VIII—II, perhaps randomly through the year.

  • Common Names

    Bois patate, madam-di-poule, Clavellino

  • Distribution

    Dominica South America| Grenada South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America| Carabobo Venezuela South America| Lara Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America|