Handroanthus

Description

The following description is excerpted from the

• Trees or occasionally shrubs.
• Wood is very dense. Heartwood distinct from sapwood, olive brown to black, lapachol present in large quantities.
• palmately (3)5-9_foliate
  .
• Leaflets with various types of trichomes as well as lepidote scales.
• dichotomous branching
  .
• pubescent
  .
• Corolla tubular, yellow or magenta
  with yellow throat.
• Stamens didynamous; Thecae divaricate; Staminode reduced.
• Ovary conical to linear, bilocular
  .
• Ovules in 2 to 10 series in each locule.
• Fruit an elongate dehiscent capsule.
• Seeds thin with 2 wings. Wings thin and sharply demarcated from seed body.

Handroanthus is distinguished from Tabebuia by several

Uses

Handroanthus is widely used as an ornamental tree in the tropics in landscaping gardens, public squares, and boulevards due to its impressive and colorful flowering. Many flowers appear on still-leafless stems at the end of the dry season, making the floral display more conspicuous. Handroanthus impetiginosus, Handroanthus chrysotrichus, and Handroanthus ochraceus are well-known throughout the tropics.^[6] Handroanthus chrysanthus, Handroanthus guayacan, Handroanthus serratifolius, Handroanthus umbellatus, and Handroanthus vellosoi are also planted in warm climates.^[9]

Handroanthus heptaphyllus, Handroanthus serratifolius, Handroanthus guayacan, Handroanthus chrysanthus, and Handroanthus billbergii are important timber trees of the Neotropics.^[7] The wood of Handroanthus billbergii is valued for carving.^[1] Indigenous peoples of the Amazon made hunting bows from the wood, which is the source of the common name pau d'arco, "bow stick".^[10]

Much of the lumber from Handroanthus is exported. The wood is durable outdoors, where it is usually used for furniture and decking. It is increasingly popular as a decking material due to its insect resistance and durability. Handroanthus and the unrelated Guaiacum (Zygophyllaceae) produce the hardest, heaviest, and most durable wood of the American tropics.^[7] Dead trees of Handroanthus guayacan remain standing after they were killed by flooding of their habitat during construction of the Panama Canal.^[1]

The wood of Handroanthus brings a high price. The wood of other species is sometimes fraudulently sold as Handroanthus. By 2007, FSC-certified ipê wood had become readily available on the market, although certificates are occasionally forged.^[11]

Much of the ipê imported into the United States is used for decking. Starting in the late 1960s,

The bark is dried, shredded, and then boiled to make a bitter or sour-tasting brownish-colored tea. Tea from the inner bark of pink ipê (Handroanthus impetiginosus) is known as pau d'arco, lapacho, or taheebo.^[14]

Handroanthus ochraceus (synonym: Tabebuia heteropoda), Handroanthus incanus, and other species are occasionally used as an additive to the entheogenic drink Ayahuasca.^[15]

Ecology

The

]

Symbolism

Because of its popularity, Handroanthus has often been adopted as a

political divisions

.

The distinction between

national flower and national tree is sometimes not entirely clear. Gentry (1992) gives the following information without making that distinction.^[7]

• Brazil - Handroanthus serratifolius
• Ecuador - Handroanthus chrysanthus
• Paraguay - Handroanthus heptaphyllus
• Venezuela - Handroanthus billbergii

History

The genus Handroanthus was erected by

botanist Oswaldo Handro. "Anthus" is derived from a Greek word for "flower".^{[citation needed}

]

Most botanists at that time did not agree with the

Alwyn H. Gentry objected strenuously and warned against "succumbing to further paroxysms of unwarranted splitting".^[18]

In 1992, Gentry published a full

described 99 species and one hybrid for the genus.^[3] These consist of the 67 species and one hybrid that remain in Tabebuia, the two species transferred to Roseodendron, and the 30 species that are now placed in Handroanthus. Gentry divided Tabebuia into 10 species groups. Handroanthus, as it is currently circumscribed, is composed of Gentry's groups 3, 4, and 5. Gentry believed group 5 to be natural, while groups 3 and 4 were artificial, designated for the sole purpose of easier identification

.

In 2007, a

type species, Handroanthus albus.^[5]

Handroanthus is sister to a clade consisting of

Crescentiina

, the smallest group that it is a member of.

Cladistic analysis of DNA

data has strongly supported Handroanthus, but sampling of taxa and DNA has not been sufficient to strongly support any relationships within the genus.

References

1. ^
   ISBN 978-0-521-82071-4
2. ^ Handroanthus in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
3. ^ ^{a b} Alwyn H. Gentry. 1992. "Bignoniaceae: Part II (Tribe Tecomeae)". Flora Neotropica Monograph 25(part 2):1-150.
4. ^ ^{a b} Susan O. Grose and Richard G. Olmstead. 2007. "Evolution of a Charismatic Neotropical Clade: Molecular Phylogeny of Tabebuia s.l., Crescentieae, and Allied Genera (Bignoniaceae)". Systematic Botany 32(3):650-659.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Susan O. Grose and Richard G. Olmstead. 2007. "Taxonomic Revisions in the Polyphyletic Genus Tabebuia s.l. (Bignoniaceae)". Systematic Botany 32(3):660-670.
6. ^
   ISBN 978-1-58178-039-0
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} Alwyn H. Gentry. 1992. "A Synopsis of Bignoniaceae Ethnobotany and Economic Botany". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 79(1):53-64.
8. ^ "The Plant List". Retrieved 3 June 2014.
9. ISBN 978-0-333-47494-5
   (set).
10. ISBN 9781853838712
    . Retrieved 12 April 2012.
11. ^ FSC Watch: SmartWood misled US local authority over FSC timber. Posted 2007-AUG-22. Retrieved 2008-JAN-27.
12. ^ La Sultana Superyacht: The Spy Ship You Can Sunbathe On. Billionaire. 14 September 2015. Tara Loader Wilkinson. 24 December 2015.
13. ^ "Wildwood Opts for Ipe Wood Over Black Locust in Boardwalk Construction". Cape May County Herald. March 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
14. ^ "Ancient Tea History".
15. ^ Jonathan Ott. 1995. In: Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangaean Entheogens.
16. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752005000100007
    .
17. ^ Joáo Rodrigues de Mattos. 1970. "Handroanthus, Um novo gênero para os "ipês" do Brasil". Loefgrenia 50: 1-4.
18. ^ Alwyn H. Gentry. 1972. "Handroanthus (Bignoniaceae): A critique". Taxon 21(1):113-114.
19. doi:10.3732/ajb.0900004