Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Corrêa
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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
Malvaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Small tree or shrub 3-12 m tall; stems minutely lepidote to glabrate; older trunks with fissured bark. Leaf blades ovate, 5-18 x 3-11 cm, coriaceous, glabrous above, glabrate beneath, with elongate nectariferous zone on midrib beneath, the apex acuminate, the base deeply cordate, the margins entire; petioles 3.5-6 cm long. Rowers axillary, usually solitary, with erect pedicels 1-5 cm long; involucel of 3 ligulate bracts, these often exceeding the calyx, deciduous, leaving scars. Calyx truncate, 6-10 mm long, lepidote; corolla 4-6 cm long, yellow, with or without purple center; androecium columnar, 1.5-2 cm long, bearing anthers throughout, yellowish; style clavate, exceeding androecium. Capsule 5-celled, oblate, 3.5 cm diam., indehiscent, minutely lepidote. Seeds 8-9 mm long, short-pubescent.
Distribution and Ecology - Common along sandy beaches. Coral Bay (A4028), Solomon Bay (A2286), Waterlemon Bay (A2522). Also on Jost van Dyke, St. Croix, and St. Thomas; pantropical in littoral habitats; sometimes cultivated as an ornamental shade tree.