Samanea
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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
Genus Description - Large trees. Leaves twice-pinnately compound; pinnae opposite, 3-4(-7) pairs, the leaflets numerous, opposite, with pinnate venation; petioles and rachis with nectariferous glands; stipules herbaceous, lanceolate, early deciduous. Flowers heteromorphic, produced in axillary or terminal, umbelliferous heads, the peripheral flowers at least shortly pedicellate, the distal one thicker, sessile; calyx of peripheral flowers vase-shaped; corolla pink, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped, 5-lobed; stamens 20-36, exserted, the filaments united at base into a short tube; ovary (sub)sessile, narrowly ellipsoid, with several ovules, the style filiform, the stigma minute, capitate. Legume subsessile, broad-linear, straight or nearly so, valves thick pulpy when mature, either adherent or narrowly septiferous between seeds, indehiscent; seeds transverse, oblong-ellipsoid, hard opaque.
Distribution and Ecology - A genus of 3 species native to tropical continental America, but 1 species (S. saman) planted and naturalized in the West Indies and the Old World