Coursetia caribaea (Jacq.) Lavin
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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
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect subshrub to 1.5 m tall, silky pubescent, especially on young parts. Leaves imparipinnate; leaflets 9-17, opposite, 0.5- 3 cm long, elliptic, membranous, densely covered with silky hairs, the apex rounded to acute, mucronate, the base rounded to cuneate, the margins entire; stipules linear, 5-8 mm long, persistent; stipels minute. Racemes 1 to few-flowered; bracts deciduous. Calyx 5-5.5 mm long, silky, the sepals awl-shaped; corolla white to pale pink, the standard clawed, orbicular, 10-12 mm long, the wings and keel clawed, as long as the standard. Legume 4-6 x 0.25 cm, linear, impressed between the seeds, reddish brown, dehiscent through both sutures by twisting valves. Seeds numerous, ca. 2 mm, nearly quadrangular, slightly flattened, reddish brown.
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Distribution
Occasional in wooded understory. Caneel Bay (A4117), Frank Bay (A4219). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Lesser Antilles, and from Mexico to northern South America.
West Indies| México Mexico North America| South America| West Indies| Puerto Rico South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|