Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Spanish: lagarto

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Tree, 10-30 m, diameter at breast height 25-80 cm; young stems, leaf and inflorescence rachises with a dense felty tomentum of greyish yellow hairs; stipules foliaceous, heart-shaped, densely sericeous on their outer faces, the hairs intermixed with numerous small orangish glands; leaves pinnate; leaflets ovate to ± oblong, the lower face moderately to densely covered with tiny flat (sometimes almost sunken) orangish glands, these easily observed with a x10 lens; inflorescence an axillary or terminal panicle; bracts and bracteoles ± persistent, densely felty tomentose with orangish glands intermixed; calyces with a dense chocolate-brown tomentum; flowers ca. 10-15 mm long; petals yellowish tangerine, the standard with a central reddish blotch on the inner face; fruit a robust, stipitate, indehiscent, 1-seeded samara, the seed chamber basal, spiny, the spines pubescent, the wing large and papery (regularly over 10 cm long), a ± erect stylar 'spine' arising from the wing just above the seed chamber"  (Lewis & Owen, 1989; pp. 62-63).

Habitat/ecology:  Evergreen lowland forests and savannas (Berry et al., 1999; p. 269).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad (cultivated?), Guyana, Brazil (Berry et al., 1999; p. 269).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2008)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)		ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2008)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2008)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Centrolobium paraense is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Centrolobium paraense as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Centrolobium paraense may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Berry, Paul E./Holst, Bruce K./ Yatskievych, Kay. 1999. Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, vol. 5: Eriocaulaceae-Lentibulariaceae. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis. .

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2008. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Lewis, G. P./Owen, P. E. 1989. Legumes of the Ilha de Maracá. Royal Botanic Gardens.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2008. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.