Samanea saman |
|
|---|---|
| carreto, raintree |
|
| Habit | Trees to 30 m; branches and twigs densely pubescent to glabrescent; resting buds densely pubescent. |
| Leaves | stipules early caducous, 5–6 mm, strigulose; petiole 4–8 cm, eglandular, strigulose; pinnae 4.5–9.5(–18) cm, with gland between each pair; leaflet blades oblique-oblong to obovate, 15–35(–45) × 9–20 mm, base acute, apex rounded, mucronate, venation brochidodromous, main vein central; terminal pinna blades rhombic-elliptic, to 55 × 35 mm, apex rounded or acute; nectaries between each pair of pinnae and leaflets. |
| Inflorescences | terminal or axillary, densely strigulose; bracts 3 or 4, deltate, (5–)7 mm, densely strigulose; bract 5 mm, clavate, strigulose. |
| Peduncles | 5–7 cm, densely strigulose. |
| Flowers | peripheral flowers pedicellate, pedicels 2–3 mm, strigulose; calyx 6 mm, densely strigulose; corolla campanulate, 10–12 mm; stamens white proximally, pink distally, staminal tube to 8 mm, ovary 4 mm; central flowers: calyx 10 mm, lobes 8; corolla 13–15 mm, lobes 5; staminal tube 12 mm, ovary 4 mm. |
| Legumes | 15–20 × 1.5–2.3 cm, base rounded, margins entire, apex rounded with slightly curved beak to 8 mm, valves leathery, smooth or slightly rough. |
Samanea saman |
|
| Phenology | Flowering spring–early summer. |
| Habitat | introduced also in tropical and subtropical areas nearly worldwide.. |
| Elevation | 0–20 m. [0–70 ft.] |
| Distribution |
FL; Central America; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in tropical and subtropical areas nearly worldwide] |
| Discussion | Samanea saman is introduced in the paleotropics as an ornamental, timber, and forage tree. The species is considered invasive in Fiji and Vanuatu; elsewhere in the Pacific, it is naturalized but rarely considered problematic. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| Parent taxa | |
| Synonyms | Mimosa saman, Albizia nicoyana, A. saman, Pithecellobium saman |
| Name authority | (Jacquin) Merrill: J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 6: 47. (1916) |
| Source | FNA vol. 11. |
| Web links | |