Entada gigas

Entada gigas
Illustration from Paul Hermann Wilhelm Taubert's Natürliche Pflanzenfamilien. Vol. III, 3
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Entada
Species:	E. gigas
Binomial name
Entada gigas (L.) Fawc. & Rendle[1]

Entada gigas, commonly known as the Cœur de la Mer or Sea Heart, is a species of flowering liana in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Africa. It is notable for having the family's largest seedpods,^[2] which measure 12 cm (4.7 in) across and can reach 2 m (6.6 ft) in length. Inside the pods are ten to fifteen seeds, each of which have a diameter of 6 cm (2.4 in) and a thickness of 2 cm (0.79 in).^[3] The seeds contain a hollow cavity, which gives them buoyancy. After being washed by rain into rivers and then the ocean, the seeds of E. gigas drift long distances on ocean currents. Seed buoyancy and vitality lasts at least two years.^[4]

A canopy formed over lianas

References

1. ^ "Entada gigas (L.) Fawc. & Rendle". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1997-05-22. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?15186. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 
2. ^ Arbel, Ilil (2004). Amazing Plants. Courier Dover Publications. p. 27. ISBN 9780486433363. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ul30UwirsSEC&client=firefox-a. 
3. ^ Kaplan, Eugene H. (1988). A Field Guide to Southeastern and Caribbean Seashores: Cape Hatteras to the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Caribbean. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 148. ISBN 9780395975169. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ekfhub2YU5EC&client=firefox-a. 
4. ^ Loewer, H. Peter (2005). Seeds: the Definitive Guide to Growing, History, and Lore. Timber Press. p. 66. ISBN 9780881926828. http://books.google.com/books?id=Yorr0tXFx2IC&client=firefox-a. 

External links

• A Sea-Bean Guide: Seaheart (Entada gigas)