Bignoniaceae
Tecoma

Tecoma stans (L.) Juss. ex Kunth

First published in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. 3: 144 (1819)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Tropical & Subtropical America. It is a tree and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome. It is used to treat unspecified medicinal disorders, as animal food, a medicine and invertebrate food, has environmental uses and social uses and for food.

Descriptions

George R. Proctor (2012). Flora of the Cayman Isands (Second Edition). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Vernacular
SHAMROCK, COW-STICK or HEMLOCK (Cayman Brac).
Morphology General Habit
A shrub to 3 m tall or more; leaves with mostly 5 or 7 leaflets (rarely simple or 3- foliolate), these lanceolate or narrowly ovate, mostly 3–10 cm long, the terminal leaflet the largest, all acuminate and sharply serrate, puberulous beneath chiefly along the midrib and principal veins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in a short raceme; corolla 4–5 cm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules 11–20 cm long, glabrous.
Distribution
Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac. Florida, West Indies, and continental tropical America, introduced and naturalised in the Old World tropics.
Ecology
The Cayman plants are common in sandy or rocky thickets and along roadsides.
[Cayman]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/82858855/149060597

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
amarillo, araguaney bobo, caballito, cabalongo extranjero, cañaguate, chicalá, chicalá polvillo, chirlobirlo, chirlobirlos, chirobiro, cucaracho, floramarilla, floramarillo, floro, fresnillo, fresno, guayacán chicalá, juaquín, quillotocto, santodomingo
[UNAL]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Bignoniaceae, Sally Bidgood, Bernard Verdcourt, Kaj Vollesen. Cobaeaceae, Bernard Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

Type
Lectoype: Tab. 54 in Plumier, Pl. Amer. (1756), chosen by Gentry
Morphology General Habit
Shrub or small tree, 2.5–10 m tall, with dark ridged bark, and usually distinctly lenticellate branchlets.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 3–9-foliolate or first pair of leaves on a branch sometimes simple.
Morphology Leaves Leaflets
Leaflets ovate to lanceolate, 2.5–15 × 0.8–6 cm, cuneate at the base, serrate (in one variety deeply so), acute to acuminate at the apex, glabrous, pubescent or velvety beneath.
Morphology Leaves Petiole
Petiole 1–9 cm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers up to 20, in terminal or subterminal racemes.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx elongate-cupulate, 3–7 mm long, 5-toothed, the teeth triangular, ± 1 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla bright yellow or sometimes slightly orange flushed, with reddish or brownish lines in the tube, narrowly campanulate, rather abruptly narrowed into the base; tube 3–4.3 cm long, the lobes rounded, 1–1.5 cm long, sparsely hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary narrowly cylindrical, 3 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit linear, 7–21 × 0.5–1 cm.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 2.2–2.7 cm long; 3–7 mm wide.
[FTEA]

The Useful Plants of Boyacá project

Ecology
Alt. 0 - 2800 m.
Distribution
Native and cultivated in Colombia.
Morphology General Habit
Shrub or tree.
[UPB]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Nativa y cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 0 - 2800 m.; Amazonia, Andes, Llanura del Caribe, Valle del Cauca, Valle del Magdalena.
Morphology General Habit
Arbusto, arbolito, árbol
Conservation
Preocupación Menor
[CPLC]

Distribution
Biogeografic region: Amazonia, Andean, Caribbean. Elevation range: 0–2800 m a.s.l. Cultivated in Colombia. Native to Colombia. Colombian departments: Amazonas, Antioquia, Atlántico, Bogotá DC, Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Huila, Magdalena, Nariño, Quindío, Santander, Tolima, Valle del Cauca.
Habit
Shrub, Small tree, Tree.
Conservation
IUCN Red List Assessment (2021): LC.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, savanna, shrubland, native grassland, wetlands (inland), artificial - terrestrial.
Vernacular
Caballito, Chirlobirlo, Floramarillo
[UPFC]

Uses

Use Materials
Materials (State of the World's Plants 2016).
Use Materials Unspecified Materials Chemicals
Materials (State of the World's Plants 2016).
Use Medicines Unspecified Medicinal Disorders
Medicinal (Instituto Humboldt 2014).
[UPB]

Use Animal Food
Used as animal food.
Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Invertebrate Food
Used as invertebrate food.
Use Materials
Used as material.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
Use Social
Social uses.
[UPFC]

Common Names

Spanish
Caballito, chirlobirlo, floramarillo.

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of the Cayman Islands

    • Flora of the Cayman Islands
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/