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Stereospermum tetragonum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yellow snake tree
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Bignoniaceae
Genus: Stereospermum
Species:
S. tetragonum
Binomial name
Stereospermum tetragonum
Synonyms[1]
  • Bignonia caudata DC.
  • Bignonia caudata Miq. ex C.B.Clarke nom. illeg.
  • Bignonia colais Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn
  • Bignonia tetragona Wall. ex DC.
  • Dipterosperma personatum Hassk.
  • Stereospermum caudatum (DC.) Miq.
  • Stereospermum colais (Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn) Mabb.
  • Stereospermum hasskarlii Zoll. & Moritzi
  • Stereospermum personatum (Hassk.) Chatterjee

Stereospermum tetragonum, the yellow snake tree, is 15–20 m tall, trunk 15–25 cm in diam, large leaves 25–50 cm; leaflets 3–6 on each side of midrib, long elliptic, 8-14 X 2.5–6 cm. Large, pale yellow, trumpet shaped flowers occur in panicles. Flowers are pale yellow, slightly curved, about 2 cm, upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed, tomentose at mouth, tube terete. The fruit is long, 4-angular, slightly curved, 30–70 cm, about 1 cm in diameter. This, probably, is the source of its common name, snake tree.

Also known as Stereospermum colais,[2] it is found in India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka: where it is "common in moist deciduous forests and occasional in openings or margins of evergreen forests, up to 1200 m."[3]

In Vietnam, Stereospermum colais is known as quao núi. Its young leaves can be eaten as a vegetable in Vietnam's Central Highlands.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 18 September 2016
  2. ^ The Plant List
  3. ^ India Biodiversity Portal