Acacia tortuosa (L.) Willd.
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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
Mimosaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Shrub or small tree to 7 m tall, many-branched from base; bark brown, smooth; branches cylindrical, finely lenticellate, glabrous with age, zigzag-shaped, spiny. Leaves 3-6 cm long; pinnae 4-6 pairs; rachis furrowed, pubescent, with 1 basal gland and 2 distal glands; leaflets 8-18 pairs per pinna, 3-5 mm long, oblong, coriaceous, with midvein prominent on lower surface, the apex obtuse, the base cordate-obtuse, unequal, the margins ciliate; stipules spinescent, 1-6 cm long, persistent, whitish with age. Heads globose, 6-8 mm diam., bright yellow, solitary or congested in leaf axils; peduncles 1-2 cm long. Calyx bell-shaped, 1.2-1.5 mm long, pubescent on upper portion; corolla bell-shaped, 2 mm long; stamens long-exserted, bright yellow. Legume 8- 16 x 0.5-0.6 cm, linear-oblong, nearly cylindrical, constricted between the seeds, slightly curved, puberulent, dark brown, nearly woody, indehiscent. Seeds ca. 4 mm long, ovoid.
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Discussion
Common name: casha.
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Distribution
A common tree of dry coastal scrub. Hurricane Hole (A2765). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, and northern South America.
South America| West Indies| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|