Caesalpinia ciliata (Bergius ex Wikstr.) Urb.
-
Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
-
Family
Caesalpiniaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Species Description - Scandent shrub to 6 m long, profusely branching along main stem; stems cylindrical, to 2.5 cm diam., sparsely covered with recurved prickles. Leaves 20-35 x 10-28 cm; pinnae 3-10 pairs, the leaflets 4-8 pairs per pinna, 1.5-3 x 1-1.7 cm, elliptic, ovate, or rounded, chartaceous, glabrous or with scattered hairs, midvein prominent on lower surface, the apex rounded and mucronate, the base obtuse or cuneate, slightly unequal, the margins entire, revolute, ciliate; petiolules short, cylindrical, tomentose; petioles and leaf rachis spiny, with a pair of recurved spines at the base of leaflets; stipules lanceolate-acuminate, 0.5-1 mm long. Flowers unisexual on axillary and terminal long racemes, the rachis rufous-tomentose, sparsely prickled; bracts lanceolate, 3.5- 6 mm long, deciduous. Calyx forming a nearly bell-shaped hypanthium, 4-5 mm long, rufous-tomentose, the sepals reflexed, oblong; petals yellow, 4.5-6.5 mm long, spatulate; stamens 10, only 4 fertile in staminate flowers, all sterile in pistillate flowers, the filaments hairy; ovary sessile, rudimentary in staminate flowers, the stigma terminal. Legume oblong to nearly rounded, 5-7 x 3- 5.5 cm, semi-inflated, the valves sparsely spiny, tardily dehiscent through both sutures. Seeds few, 1.5-2 cm long, ovoid to rounded, smooth, yellowish to orange-brown (less often black).
Distribution and Ecology - Along sandy beaches. Drunk Bay (A4134), Haulover Point (A4227). Also on St. Croix, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles
-
Discussion
Caesalpinia bonduc sensu Griseb., Fl. Brit. W. I. 204. 1860, nonL., 1753.
Guilandina melanosperma Eggers, Fl. St. Croix 46. 1879.
Caesalpinia diver gens Urb., S y m b . Ant. 2: 276. 1900.
Common name: yellow nicker.