''Cecropia peltata'' is a fast-growing tree in the genus ''

Cecropia ''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees. The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the speci ...

''. Common names include trumpet tree, trumpet-bush, bacano, bois canon and snakewood. It is listed as one of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.

Description

''Cecropia peltata'' is a fast-growing tree, normally reaching , but occasionally growing up to tall. The leaves are large – in length and width, but more commonly about 20 × and palmately divided into 7–11 (but generally 8–10) lobed. The upper surfaces of the leaves are scaled, while the lower surfaces are covered with minute hair, interspersed with longer ones. The petioles are generally long, while the branches are green and covered with short, stiff hairs. Like other members of the genus, ''C. peltata'' is dioecious – there are separate male and female plants. Male flowers, which are long, are borne in spikes long. The male

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is enclosed in a

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

which splits open and drops off once the anthers mature. The female flowers are borne in paired spikes long. The fruit, which is about long, is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...

which is enclosed in a fleshy jacket which forms from the

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

Taxonomy

The species was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in the 1759 edition of ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...

''. It was the first species to be described in the genus and was originally applied to many species of ''

''. As additional species were described, the usage narrowed. The genus was placed in the family

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus ''Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmeria ...

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with K ...

in 1889.

E. J. H. Corner Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was an English mycologist and botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1929–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the Univ ...

suggested moving the genus to the

in 1962, while

Cornelis Berg Cornelis Christiaan (Cees) Berg (1934–2012) was a Dutch botanist known for his work on the plant family Moraceae. Early life and education Berg was born on 7 February 1934 in Bandung, Indonesia, then part of the Dutch East Indies, and later mov ...

placed ''Cecropia'' in its own family, the Cecropiaceae. Based on molecular data, the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disc ...

merged the family back into the Urticaceae.

Distribution

''Cecropia peltata'' ranges from southern Mexico through Central America to northern South America, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, and has been introduced in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The species has been listed as one of the hundred worst invasive alien species by the

Invasive Species Specialist Group Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

. Replacement of its very close ecological analogue, the native African ''

Musanga cecropioides ''Musanga cecropioides'', the African corkwood tree or umbrella tree, is found in tropical Africa from Sierra Leone south to Angola and east to Uganda. It is typical in secondary forests. This tree is also known as ''parasolier'', ''n'govoge'', ...

'', by ''C. peltata'' has been reported along major roads of Cameroon.

References

External links

Tree invasion in The Pacific Islands

Review Article: Selection of chemical markers for the quality control of medicinal plants of the genus Cecropia
{{Authority control peltata Plants described in 1759