Pithecellobium unguis-cati
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Illustration of Pithecellobium unguis-cati |
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| ( L. ) Benth. |
Pithecellobium unguis-cati ,sometimes also called cat's claw in German , is a species in the subfamily of the mimosa family . Both the name cat's claw and the specific epithet unguis-cati refer to the pointed double spines of the leaf bases.
description
Pithecellobium unguis-cati is an evergreen, mostly multi-stemmed tree that reaches a height of 6 to 8 meters and forms a wide, irregular crown. The trunk diameter is 17 to 20 centimeters. Under unfavorable conditions it develops as a shrub up to 3 meters high and forms dense thickets . In some locations it can also briefly lose all of its leaves . The bark is described as gray or reddish brown. It is 6 millimeters thick and covered with light-colored cork pores on younger trees . The wood is hard and heavy, it has a red to light brown core and a narrow, yellow sapwood . The branches are grooved and often grow in a zigzag shape. Pointed, up to 1.2 centimeters long, paired thorns are formed on the trunk as well as on twigs and the leaf bases . The petiole is thin. The leaf consists of four glabrous, broadly oval and entire-margined leaflets. A single leaflet is 1.2 to 5 inches long and 1 to 2.5 inches wide.
The flowers are polygamous and form light yellow to pale pink, spherical and about 2 centimeters in diameter from ten to twelve individual flowers. The individual flowers are sessile and have a tubular, approximately 1.2 millimeter long calyx and a five-lobed 4.5 millimeter long corolla tube. Numerous thread-like, light yellow stamens are formed that are about 1.5 centimeters long. The stamp has a long, filamentous stylus .
The fruits are curved pods 5 to 12.5 inches long and 0.6 to 1.2 inches wide. When ripe they are colored red to dark brown on the outside, the inside are red. The seeds have a glossy blackish color and are about 8 millimeters long.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 26.
Distribution and location requirements
The species occurs on the West Indies, on the Bahamas, Cuba, Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago. There are other natural occurrences in Mexico, in Central America and in Colombia, Guyana and Venezuela. It was naturalized in the United States .
The cat's claw grows in dry, sandy locations near the coast.
use
The tree has no economic importance. In Florida it is used as an ornamental and hedge wood.
proof
literature
- Schütt, Weisgerber, Schuck, Lang, Stimm, Roloff: Trees of the tropics . Nikol, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-933203-79-1 , p. 523-526 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Pithecellobium unguis-cati at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ^ Pithecellobium unguis-cati. In: Germplasm Resources Information Network. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, accessed May 31, 2009 .
