Abarema glauca

Abarema glauca (Urb.) Barneby & J. W. Grimes

Synonym: Pithecellobium glaucum

Common Names: Caracoli

Habit: Abarema glauca grows as a pubescent shrub to small tree up to 7 m in height. The leaves are arranged alternately, bipinnately compound, to 20 cm in length, with 3 – 4 pairs of pinnae with glands at their base.  Each pinnae has 6-12 pairs of obovate leaflets with emarginate leaflet apex.

The complete, perfect, actinomorphic flowers are in heads.  The calyx has 5 fused sepals. The corolla has 5 fused petals. The calyx and corolla are fused into a single structure. There are numerous white showy stamens that are much longer than the perianth and provide the coloring of the heads. The fruit is a legume that becomes coiled as it matures.  The seeds are blue.

Habitat: Abarema glauca grows in Pine Woodlands.

Distribution: Abarema glauca occurs on Pine island groups in the Lucayan Archipelago as well as Cuba, Hispaniola, and Venezuela.

Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage: Abarema glauca is not known to be used medicinally in the Lucayan Archipelago.