Cordia lutea Lam.

Yellow cordia, muyoyo

Yellow cordia is native to the Galápagos Islands, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and the Marquesas Islands in Polynesia. In the Galápagos, it is found on Baltra, Española, Floreana, Genovesa, Isabela, Marchena, Pinta, Pinzón, Rábida, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago, Seymour, and Wolf.

Darwin’s own notes, as he watched bees obtaining nectar from yellow cordia, transcribed from the Darwin Online manuscripts:

The hood springs one way & pistil springs otherway; so opposed elasticities & coherence of edge of hood keep in place the whole till force of bee acts— The stigma loaded with mass of coherent pollen, will hit same point of bee’s lower side of body, & whilst bee sucks, will be routed against the hairs already charged with pollen. — Pistil straight & not curved as W. describes that of C. claviculata — After in C. lutea pistil has sprung bees can insert proboscis on either side of base lower part of pistil, into nectary, & perhaps would rub stigma, for this does not rest with its face against upper petal, but one end rest against it.— [sketch] petal.

I must watch bees on flower already sprung.—

The hood of upper or nectary petal protects stigma from rain, owing to horizontal position of flower, from rain, but not very well —

Plants: Shrubs or small trees are up to 26′ (8 m) tall.

Leaves: Alternate, 1½–4″ (4–10 cm) long, ovate or rounded, with irregular margins that are somewhere between toothed and crenate. The upper surface of each leaf is rough-textured, while the lower surface is hairy.

Flowers: Cymes of bright yellow funnel-shaped flowers have a delightful sweet aroma. Each flower is ¾–1½″ (2–4 cm) across, with five to eight lobes and 5-8 stamens.

Fruits: White drupes are irregularly rounded and ¼–⅜″ (8–12 mm) in size. Each contains 1-4 seeds.

Habitats: Arid lowlands, often close to the sea.

Online References:

References:

 

Cordia lutea description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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