Cecropia peltata


Cecropia peltata is a fast-growing tree in the genus Cecropia. 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 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 is enclosed in a spathe 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 which is enclosed in a fleshy jacket which forms from the perianth.

Taxonomy

The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1759 edition of Systema Naturae. It was the first species to be described in the genus and was originally applied to many species of Cecropia. As additional species were described, the usage narrowed. The genus was placed in the family Urticaceae by Adolf Engler in 1889. E. J. H. Corner suggested moving the genus to the Urticaceae in 1962, while Cornelis Berg placed Cecropia in its own family, the Cecropiaceae. Based on molecular data, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 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. Replacement of its very close ecological analogue, the native African Musanga cecropioides, by C. peltata has been reported along major roads of Cameroon.