- Caesalpinia gilliesii
Taxobox
name = "Caesalpinia gilliseii"
image_width = 260px
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Fabales
familia =Fabaceae
subfamilia =Caesalpinioideae
genus = "Caesalpinia "
species = "C. gilliesii"
binomial = "Caesalpinia gilliesii"
binomial_authority = (Wallich ex Hook.)Wallich ex D. Dietr.
synonyms = "Poinciana gilliesii""Caesalpinia gilliesii" is a shrub in the legume family. It is commonly known as bird of paradise, but it is not related to the bird of paradise genus "
Strelitzia ". It grows to 3-4 m tall. The leaves are bipinnate, 10-15 cm long, bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets 5-6 mm long and 2-4 mm broad. Theflowers are borne inraceme s up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow petals with 10 long conspicuous redstamen s.It is a striking
ornamental plant native to tropical America, mainlyArgentina andUruguay . It is naturalised inTexas , and fairly common in the rest of the southwestern United States, where it is known as bird of paradise bush, desert bird of paradise, yellow bird of paradise, and barba de chivo.Although it is a tropical plant adapted to dry climate, it also thrives in the climate of
Avsa and neighbouring islands in the south ofSea of Marmara in northwesternTurkey , where it is commonly known as Paşabıyığı (Pasabiyigi), Cennetkuşu ağacı (Cennetkusu agaci), which in Turkish means "bird of paradise tree," and Bodurakasya, which means "dwarf acacia".Medicinal uses
Medicine men of peoples indigenous to the
Amazon Rainforest used this plant and the similar "Caesalpinia pulcherrima ", which they called "ayoowiri", for curingfever ,sore s, andcough . Four grams from the root is also said to induce abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. [cite web | url=http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/07/24/amazing_mystery/ | title=Amazon mystery: A medicine man understood the secrets of this plant long before we did. How? | author=S. Allen Counter | date=2006-07-24 | work=The Boston Globe] However, it must be noted that the seeds and the green seed pods of this plant are toxic, provoking severe vomiting and other abdominal symptoms.External links
* [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3691,3879,3880 Jepson Manual Treatment]
* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAGI USDA Plants Profile]
* [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Caesalpinia+gilliesii Photo gallery]References
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