Spathodea campanulata P.Beauv.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Bignoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Large tree to 30 m tall, sometimes reaching 1 m diam; bark smooth and grayish; wood white and soft; stem cylindrical, with numerous lenticels. Leaves opposite, pinnately compound, with 9-15 leaflets; leaflets 5-12 x 2.5-5 cm, elliptic or oblong, chartaceous, glabrous except for a few hairs along the prominent veins on lower surface, the apex acute or acuminate, the base obtuse, acute, or rounded and oblique, the margins slightly wavy and revolute; petiolules short, the petiole cylindrical, the rachis slightly flattened along upper surface. Flowers in terminal racemes. Calyx nearly fusiform, subwoody, curved toward one side, 5.5-8 cm long, densely covered with rusty-brown, soft hairs; corolla orange, yellow within toward base and along margins, 6-9 cm long, zygomorphic, bell-shaped, the lobes rounded or obtuse, 2.5-3.5 cm long; stamens nearly exserted, inserted at base of corolla; ovary oblong, 2-locular, with many ovules. Fruit an erect, oblongellipsoid, woody capsule, opening along one side, 17-25 cm long, the opened capsule boat-shaped. Seeds numerous, thin, 2-winged, the wings hyaline.
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Discussion
Common name: African tulip tree.
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Distribution
Introduced as an ornamental, only a few individuals known on St. John. Maho Bay Quarter along Center Line Road (A2511). Also on St. Thomas and Tortola; native to tropical Africa but widely cultivated and naturalized throughout the tropics.
Africa| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|