Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Cordia lutea Lam.

muyuyo, flor de overo, overal, uva, yellow cordia, yellow geiger

Cordia lutea Lam. Photo: Patricia Jaramillo, Rachel Atkinson, Anne Guézou, CDF, 2008.
Cordia lutea Lam. Photo: Patricia Jaramillo, Rachel Atkinson, Anne Guézou, CDF, 2008.

A majestic small tree with a dark twisted trunk and dark green leaves. The tree is covered in groups of cheerful yellow flowers almost all year long. The fruits are round and luminous white. The flesh is sticky, and contains small black seeds.

The fruit is pleasingly sweet when first tasted but soon becomes bitter (Wiggins and Porter 1971).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Lamiales

Family
Boraginaceae

Genus
Cordia

Species
lutea

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Varronia flava Andersson, Varronia rotundifolia A.DC., fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)

Taxon origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: The native range of this species is W. South America - Colombia, Ecuador (incluído Galápagos) y Perú (POWO, 2023).

References

  • Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
  • Schofield, E.K. (1984) Plants of the Galapagos Islands. Field Guide and Travel Journal. Universe Books, New York, 159 pp.
  • Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
  • Mauchamp, A. (1995) Informe de viaje de campo a Darwin y Wolf. Inventario sistematico de la flora y fauna de las islas. Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished.
  • Jaramillo, P. (1998) Distribución Espacial de la Vegetación Vascular y Dispersión de Especies Introducidas dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos. Tesis de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Especialización ECOLOGIA DE POBLACIONES.
  • Jørgensen, P.M. León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 1181 pp.
  • McMullen, C.K. (1999) Flowering plants of the Galapagos. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 370 pp.
  • Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
  • Atkinson, R. Guézou, A. & Jaramillo, P. (2009) Siémbrame en tu jardín - Plantas nativas para jardines en Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador, 151 pp.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
  • Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
  • Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
  • Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
  • Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
  • Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
  • Riley, L.A.M. (1925) Critical Notes on Galápagos Plants (St. George Pacific Expedition, 1924). Kew Bull. Misc. Info. 1925(5): 216-231.
  • Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
  • Schönitzer, K. (1975) Galápagos Plants. Privately Published, Quito: 1-43.
  • Schofield, E.K. (1971) Field Guide to Some Common Galápagos Plants. Lindblad Travel, Inc., NY: 1-42.
  • Sequeira, A.S. Lanteri, A.A., Scataglini, M.A., Confalonieri, V.A. & Farrell, B.D. (2000) Are flightless Galapaganus weevils older than the Galápagos islands they inhabit? Heredity 85: 20-29.
  • Andersson, N.J. (1858) Flora of the Galápagos Islands (translated from Swedish). Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Academien Botanik 1: 3-34
  • Adsersen, A. Adsersen, H. (1987) Botanical Investigations in 1987 Annual Report 1986-1687. Charles Darwin Research Station. Botany pg 32- 50
  • Adsersen, A. Adsesen, H. (1987) Botanical Investigation in 1987 Annual Report 1986-1987. Charles Darwin Research Station. Botany. Pg 32,33.
  • Guerrero, A. Tye, A. (2009) Darwin's Finches as seed predators and dispersers. The Wilson Journal Of Ornithology 121 (4):752-764, 2009
  • Heleno, R. Blake, S., Jaramillo, P., Traveset, A., Vargas, P. & Nogales, M. (2011) Frugivory and seed dispersal in the Galápagos: what is the state of the art? Integrative Zoology 6: 110-128.
  • Blake, S. Wikelski, M., Cabrera, F., Guézou, A., Silva, M., Sadeghayobi, E., Yackulik, C. & Jaramillo, P. (2011) Gardeners of Galapagos? Seed dispersal by giant tortoises. Journal of Biogeography (submission): 1-41.
  • Restrepo, A. Bush, M., Correa-Metrio, A., Conroy, J., Gardener, M. R., Jaramillo, P., Steinitz-Kannan, M., Overpeck, J. & Colinvaux, P. (2011) Impacts of climate variability and human colonization on the vegetation of the Galápagos Islands. Ecology: 1-42.
  • McMullen, C.K. (2011) Pollination of the heterostylos Galápagos native, Cordia lutea (Boraginaceae) Plant Syst Evol (2012) 298:569-579
  • McMullen, C.K. (1987) Biologia reproductiva de las Angiospermas de las Islas Galapágos. Pg. 39 - 52. Memorias: Taller sobre investigación Botànica y manejo en galapágos.
  • Grant, P.R. Grant, B.R. (1987) Interacciones entre plantas y animales: consumo de semillas por los Pinzones de Darwin. Memorias. Investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg.199-209
  • Cayot, L. J. (1987) Ecology of Giant Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus)in the Galápagos Islands. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology in the Graduate School of Syracuse University.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging the origin of the data.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Cordia lutea", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=214. Accessed 26 April 2024.