Tecoma stans

Taxobox
name = "Tecoma stans"


image_width = 200px
image_caption =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
subclassis = Asteridae
unranked_ordo = Euasterids I
familia = Bignoniaceae
genus = "Tecoma"
species = "T. stans"
binomial = "Tecoma stans"
binomial_authority = (L.) Juss. ex Kunth

The perennial shrub "Tecoma stans" is known by the common English names Yellow Trumpetbush, Yellow Bells ("geelklokkies" in Afrikaans), "Yellow Elder" and ginger-thomas. It has many Spanish names as well, including "esperanza", which is Spanish for "hope." It is native to South and Central America, north to Mexico and the southwestern United States. It has been introduced to several other regions, including southern Africa, the Philippines and Hawaii. "Tecoma stans" is the official flower of the United States Virgin Islands. It has become a nuisance weed on several Pacific islands, especially in French Polynesia where it is called "piti".

Yellow Trumpetbush is an attractive plant which is cultivated as an ornamental. It has sharply-toothed, lance-shaped green leaves and bears large, showy, bright golden yellow trumpet-shaped flowers. It is drought-tolerant and grows well in warm climates. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds [For example Sapphire-spangled Emerald ("Amazilia lactea") in Brazil (Baza Mendonça & dos Anjos 2005)] . The plant produces pods containing yellow seeds with papery wings. The plant is desirable fodder when it grows in fields grazed by livestock.

The leaves and roots of the plant contain bioactive compounds, especially monoterpenes, which may have medicinal uses.

It readily colonizes disturbed, rocky, sandy, and cleared land and occasionally becomes an invasive weed.

It is the national flower of The Bahamas.

Footnotes

References

* (2005): Beija-flores (Aves, Trochilidae) e seus recursos florais em uma área urbana do Sul do Brasil [Hummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae) and their flowers in an urban area of southern Brazil] . [Portuguese with English abstract] "Revista Brasileira de Zoologia" 22(1): 51–59. doi|10.1590/S0101-81752005000100007 [http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbzool/v22n1/a07v22n1.pdf PDF fulltext]

External links

* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TEST USDA Plants Profile]
* [http://wildflower.utexas.edu/plants/result.php?id_plant=TEST Texas Wildflowers]
* [http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pdf/shrubs/Tecoma%20stans.pdf US Forest Service article (pdf)]
* [http://www.floridata.com/ref/T/teco_sta.cfm FloriData]
* [http://www.hear.org/pier/species/tecoma_stans.htm "Tecoma stans" as a weed]