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Species
Spathodea campanulata Beauv.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
campanulata: campanulate, referring to the shape of the corolla.
Spathodea campanulata is frequently visited by nectar-feeding birds, which may be important pollinators (Corlett 2005). Rangaiah et al. (2004) found that birds were the exclusive pollinators of these flowers, based on their observations. They noted that bees also fed on the floral rewards, but they tended to feed on flowers from a single tree and therefore could not be effective pollinators given the self-incompatibility of S. campanulata. Trigona bees died in the calyx water and nectar and were consumed by visiting birds.
Ayensu (1974) reported that he had observed several bat visits to these flowers over several years in Ghana. He observed Micropteropus pusillus inserting their heads into the cup-like flowers to lap large quantities of rather dilute nectar. On several occasions, rather than enter the corolla tube, the bats tore the basal part of the flower cup, thereby obtaining an easy flow of nectar, which they lapped up. (Ayensu 1974)
Bito (2007) studied moth communities colonizing S. campanulata invading secondary rain forest vegetation in Melanesia. They found 54 species of folivorous Lepidoptera on S. campanulata. Most were generalists, feeding on more than just a single native plant family. However, the three most abundant species, representing 83% of all individuals (Acherontia lachesis, Hyblaea puera complex, and Psilogramma menephron) were relatively host-specific, feeding mainly on a single native family (native hosts: Rubiaceae, Verbenaceae, and Loganiaceae, respectively). Most of the 23 species analysed in detail had a wide geographic distribution, including 13 species wih distributions spanning the entire 1000 km study transect. Despite its phylogenetic isolation from the native vegetation, Spathodea campanulata was rapidly colonized (on a scale of decades) by folivorous Lepidoptera communities with a resulting species richness and dominance structure indistinguishable from the assemblages feeding on native hosts. Although most species were generalists, the highest population densities were reached by relatively specialized species, similar to the communities on native hosts. The species turnover across distances from 10 to 1000 km was relatively low as most of the species had wide geographic ranges.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Shapiro, Leo, Shapiro, Leo, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/70780 |
"Notes: Plains to High Altitude, Cultivated, Native of Tropical Africa"
Common
Tropical Africa
Spathodea campanulata has been a very successful invader in many regions to which it has been introduced. For example, together with Piper aduncum, it is the most successful woody invader of secondary forests in the northern New Guinea lowlands and adjacent Bismarck Archipelago. The tree invades early stages of rain forest succession developing in abandoned gardens from swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture or after natural disturbance, such as the opening of large forest gaps from treefalls and landslides, but it does not penetrate into closed primary forests. (Bito 2007) Whistler (1995) writes that it escapes and becomes naturalized in disturbed lowland areas such as pastures and shrublands in Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, and perhaps elsewhere in the Pacific Islands. However, Meyer (2004) reported that this species is indeed able to penetrate into apparently pristine undisturbed forests in the Society Islands in the eastern Pacific.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Shapiro, Leo, Shapiro, Leo, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/70780 |
United States
Origin: Exotic
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Unknown/Undetermined
Confidence: Confident
The African Tuliptree is an obligate outcrosser and requires pollinators for pollen flow between conspecific trees (Rangaiah et al. (2004). Bittencourt et al. (2003) carried out controlled pollinations of Spathodea campanulata in Brazil. Cross-pollination yielded 55% fruit set, whereas self-pollination resulted in no fruit set. Through careful embryological and histological investigations, Bittencourt et al. showed that the majority of ovules in selfed pistils were penetrated and fertilized within 48 hours, so the factors causing self-incompatibility and failure to set fruit are late-acting. According to Rangaiah et al. (2004), the natural fruit set of S. campanulata is very low, but is at least somewhat compensated for by a large seed crop.
Spathodea campanulata has winged seeds that are wind dispersed (Meyer 2004). The fruit is a capsule and dehisces naturally when mature, releasing small, light and winged seeds into the air. Seeds are dispersed efficiently by wind during the dry season. (Rangaiah et al. (2004)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Shapiro, Leo, Shapiro, Leo, EOL Rapid Response Team |
Source | http://eolspecies.lifedesks.org/pages/70780 |
"Karnataka: Hassan, Mysore Kerala: All districts Tamil Nadu: All districts"