Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Corrêa
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Authority
Britton, Nathaniel L. Flora Borinqueña.
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Family
Malvaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - A common, widely distributed, seaside tree, native of nearly all tropical regions, this has received many other popular names, among them Cork-tree, Spanish Cork, and Bendy-tree in English. Palo de Jaqueca and Santa Maria in Spanish. In Porto Rico it grows naturally along the coasts, within the influence of salinity, but is occasionally seen inland, where, planted beyond salt water, for shade or ornament, it is apparently vigorous. Its fruits are carried long distances through the ocean, the seed retaining vitality; in America it grows as far north as southern Florida, and Bermuda. The generic name Thespesia, published in 1807, to distinguish these trees from Hibiscus, is of Greek derivation, meaning marvellous; about 8 species are known, tropical and subtropical in distribution, only the one here illustrated in Porto Rico. Thespesias are trees, or shrubs, with alternate, broad, stalked, usually heart-shaped leaves, and showy, stalked flowers borne solitary among the leaves. The calyx has a nearly continuous margin without teeth or lobes; there are 5, large petals; the tube of stamens is about one-half as long as the petals; the ovary has 5 cavities and there are 5 styles (united), the fruit is leathery, and does not open; the several seeds are hairy, with black-dotted cotyledons.
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Discussion
Otaheite Emajaguilla Mallow Family Hibiscus populneus Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 694. 1753. Thespesia populnea Solander; Correa, Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Paris 9: 920. 1807.