Fewflower Holdback

Caesalpinia pauciflora (Griseb.) C. Wright; Sauv. Anal. Acad Habana5:404. 1869.
Libidibia pauciflora Griseb. Cat. PI. Cub. 78. 1866. Poinciana pauciflora Small, Flora SE. U. S. 591. 1903.
A slender prickly shrub, 1-2 m. high, glabrous throughout, the older stems armed with broad, coiky-based prickles about 1 cm. long. Leaves 3-7 cm. long; pinnae 2-6 pairs; leaflets 4-6 pairs, oblong to orbicular, 6-12 mm. long, membranous, 1 -veined, obtuse or retuse; pedicels 1-2.5 cm. long, jointed near the top; outer sepal 4 or 5 mm. long; petals 6-7 mm. long; stamens 8-10 mm. long, hairy below; legume obliquely oblong, 2-3.5 cm. long, 8-10 mm. wide, obliquely finely reticulate-veined, short-stipitate.
Type locality: Cuba.
Distribution: Cuba, Hispaniola, and Keys of Florida.

Perennial, Shrubs, Woody throughout, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems 1-2 m tall, Trunk or stems armed with thorns, spines or prickles, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules deciduous, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite , Leaflets alternate or subopposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glandular punctate or gland-dotted, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx gibbous, inflated, or spurred, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Petals clawed, Petals orange or yellow, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Banner petal suborbicular, broadly rounded, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens completely free, separate, Stamens long exserted, Filaments hairy, villous, Filaments pink or red, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit strongly curved, falcate, bent, or lunate, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outl ine, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.