Cochlospermum vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng.

  • Authority

    Poppendieck, Hans-Helmut. 1981. Cochlospermaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 27: 1-34. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Bixaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cochlospermum vitifolium (Willd.) Spreng.

  • Type

    Type. Humboldt & Bonpland in herb. Willdenow 12641 (holotype, B-W). Venezuela. Caracas (fl.).

  • Synonyms

    Bombax vitifolium Willd., Wittelsbachia vitifolia (Willd.) Mart. & Zucc., Maximilianea vitifolia (Willd.) Krug & Urb., Cochlospermum hibiscoides Kunth, Maximilianea hibiscoides (Kunth) Kuntze, Cochlospermum serratifolium DC., Mahurea speciosa Choisy, Cochlospermum codinae Eichler, Lachnocistus utilis Duchass. ex Linden & Planch., Maximilianea triphylla S.F.Blake, Cochlospermum triphyllum (S.F.Blake) Pittier, Cochlospermum luetzelburgii Pilg.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Tree or shrub (3-)8-15(-20) m tall, 20-50 cm in diam.; trunk and old branches with silvery white bark, young branches reddish brown. Leaves 5-7-lobed, 623 × 8-40 cm, base cordate, lateral lobes overlapping, lobes elliptic to oblong, acuminate with acumen 1 cm long, subentire to minutely or strongly serrate, basally connate for 20-30% of their length, spreading; lower surface glabrous, pubescent or velvety; petiole brown, glabrous, 7-25 cm long. Inflorescence terminal, 10-25 × 12-20 cm, with (3-)5-9(-12) lateral branches arising in the axils of reduced foliage leaves; central axis red brown, 3-6 cm in diameter, lateral branches 1.5-3.0 mm in diam. Flowers 8-12 cm in diam. Sepals pubescent to subglabrous, usually densely velvety without and minutely strigose within, outer sepals 13-18 x 8-10 mm, inner sepals 20-28 x 13-20 mm. Petals obovate-subquadrate, apically emarginate for ca. 1 cm. Filaments 5-20 mm long, yellow, sometimes tinged with red; anthers 4-8 x 0.4-0.6 mm, curved, with one round-ish-subquadrate apical pore of ca. 0.2 mm diameter and two smaller triangular pores at base. Ovary 5-carpellate, 2-3 mm in diam., densely pubescent to glabrous; style ca. 2 cm long, curved, stigma slightly swollen. Capsule suberect or pendent, usually only one per ramification, broadly ovate to obovate in outline, apex mostly umbilicate, base attenuate to truncate (4-)7-9(-11) × 3.5-7.0 cm; stalk ca. 4 × 0.25 cm; outer valve velvety or glabrescent, dark brown, grey or greenish; placentae incurved; inner valve elliptic, ochre, orange or ebony, shining within, dull without. Seeds reniform with narrow sinus, or subcochleate and slightly twisted, 4.5-5.5 × 3.5-5.0 mm, outer layer of seed-coat firmly adhering, rarely fragile, seed hairs white.

  • Discussion

    Vernacular names of wider distribution are Bototo, Bototillo and derived forms (Cuba, Colombia, Venzuela, Ecuador, and also used for Cochlospermum angolense in Angola) for other vernacular names see list on p. 32).

    Cochlospermum vitifolium is grown for ornamental purposes, especially the form with double flowers, or for living fences. The mashed root is used as a poultice for healing abscesses (Venezuela), extracts of the bark are employed against kidney ailments and against asthma (Guatemala), and extracts of various parts of the plant are used to combat gall bladder problems and jaundice at various localities. The seed hairs are used to stuff pillows and the sap is used for native dyes (Bolivia).

    Cochlospermum vitifolium is rather uniform throughout its range. Some of the more variable characters are the indumentum of the lower leaf surface and the degree of the incision of the leaves ("C. serratifolium"), but these variations do not have any taxonomic significance. Unfortunately, only insufficient material is available from the critical zone of northern Goiás, southern Maranhão and Piauí, where there seems to be an area of transition between this species and C. regium (Fig. 2). At present, in many cases the only criterion for identification is the collector’s note "tree" (for C. vitifolium) or "shrub" (for C. regium). A study of the complex should be very interesting for the problem of the evolution of geoxylic suffrutices.

    In Bolivia, however, both species are very distinct, and their distribution seems to correspond with the borders between Cerrado vegetation and savanna woodland. A partial exchange of genes may however have happened, as is indicated by the occurrence of the otherwise very rare trifoliate leaves in both species, e.g. Cardenas 2970 (C. regium, type of C. trilobum) and Scolnik & Luti 646 (C. vitifolium).

    As with many species of secondary vegetation, it is difficult to decide on wild, cultivated or naturalized status in a given region. Cochlospermum vitifolium is often found spontaneous along roadsides- one of the reasons why it is so well collected- but is also reported to be planted near highways.

    In the West Indies, this species is cultivated in a doubled-flower form, which is very showy and might be horticulturally interesting. Apparently it does not set seed and is propagated vegetatively. A photograph of this form can be found in Menninger (1962). A collection from Mexico (Karwinsky j. n. at M) also has double flowers, but it is rather poorly documented and has not been recollected since. West Indian collections of Cochlospermum vitifolium with non-doubled flowers come from Cuba and from Puerto Rico, but it is not possible to say if these are really wild or have escaped cultivation. For western Cuba, Wright (2082) notes that it is "cultivated at Destino but said to have been sent (seeds) from eastern Cuba."

    Distribution and Ecology: From northern Mexico to Peru, Venezuela, the West Indies and northern Brazil, also in Bolivia; introduced to tropical West Africa, Indonesia, Papua, Hawaii and the Fiji Islands. Cochlospermum vitifolium occurs in regions with seasonal climate and is only sporadically represented in lowland rain forests. Typical habitats are deciduous forests, thickets or brushwood and savannas. In the Cerrado vegetation of Brazil it is replaced by C. regium. Cochlospermum vitifolium behaves like a weed and is often to be found along roadsides, in dump areas, forest clearings, and secondary growth. It flowers in the leafless condition from December to March in the northern hemisphere and from June to September south of the Equator and its fruits ripen 1-2 months after the peak flowering period. The seeds are shed before the beginning of the rainy season.

  • Common Names

    Carnestolenda, poro poro, Polo Polo

  • Distribution

    Mexico North America| Sonora Mexico North America| Nayarit Mexico North America| Jalisco Mexico North America| Guerrero Mexico North America| Michoacán Mexico North America| México Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Campeche Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Zacapa Guatemala Central America| Santa Rosa Guatemala Central America| Huehuetenango Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| Morazán Honduras Central America| Olancho Honduras Central America| Atlántida Honduras Central America| El Salvador Central America| La Unión El Salvador Central America| Masaya Nicaragua Central America| Chinandega Nicaragua Central America| Granada Nicaragua Central America| Chontales Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Guanacaste Costa Rica Central America| Panama Central America| Canal Zone Panamá Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Camagüey Cuba South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Bayamón Puerto Rico South America| Saint Thomas Jamaica South America|