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Mexican holdback
Erythrostemon mexicanus
Erythrostemon mexicanus, formerly Caesalpinia mexicana, is a species of plant in the genus Erythrostemon, within the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include Mexican Bird of Paradise, Mexican holdback, Mexican caesalpinia, and tabachín del monte. It is native to the extreme lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and to parts of Mexico: in the northeast and further south along the Gulf coast as well as the Pacific coast in Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and a small portion of Sinaloa.
From the article Erythrostemon mexicanus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Mexican holdback is a small evergreen tree or large shrub, reaching a height of 3–4.6 m (9.8–15.1 ft) and a spread of 1.8–3 m (5.9–9.8 ft). Leaves are bipinnately-compound and dark green. Each leaf has five to nine pinnae 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) in length. Pinnae are composed of four to five leaflets that are 1–2.5 cm (0.39–0.98 in) long and 0.7–1.3 cm (0.28–0.51 in) wide. Yellow, slightly fragrant flowers are produced on 7.6–15.2 cm (3.0–6.0 in) terminal spikes of 10 to 30. Blooming takes place from February to July, often continuing to October. The fruit is a dehiscent tan or yellow seedpod 5.1–7.6 cm (2.0–3.0 in) in length.
What it does
Erythrostemon mexicanus is the host plant for the caterpillars of the curve-winged metalmark (Emesis emesia).
Wikipedia: “Ecology”
At the table
Mexican holdback is cultivated as an ornamental because of its showy flowers, lush, fine-textured foliage, and drought tolerance.
Wikipedia: “Uses”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Erythrostemon mexicanus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 956604.