Tipuana tipu is native to the northwestern of Argentina. It is large and its decurrent crown provides good shade. Leaves fall during a short period around October. When it becomes green again it gets completely covered with bright yellow flowers, which form a yellow mat when they fall on the ground. They flower in summer for a second time but less intensely.
 It is valued for its shade© Carlos Gonzalez Ledo
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 Flowers grow in racemes. © Roberto Ares |
 © Cora Rimoldi |
 The fruit has the form of a flattened wing and the seed in one of the extremes. This type of fruit rotates in a spiral way and is dragged by the wind far from the parent tree. © Cora Rimoldi |
 © Alberto Gurni |
 Compound leaf© Cora Rimoldi |
 Dark grey bark with longitudinal fissures© Cora Rimoldi |
Spittlebugs are insects associated to this tree.
| It rains under the rosewoods (Tipuana tipu)When November comes and rosewoods become green again an unusual phenomenon is witnessed for only a couple of weeks - it rains under the rosewoods no matter if it is a sunny or a cloudy day.This is caused by an insect, the spittlebug, whose nymph feeds on this tree's sap. The nymph produces a spittle mass around the stalks which is a good cover against predators and keeps it humid. The foam is the waste product eliminated after sap nutrients have been absorbed, into which air bubbles are introduced through a breathing tube which is at the end of the abdomen of the nymph. | |
 © Carlos Gonzlez LedoNymphs are under the foam
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 © Roberto AresI came across it when I enlarged the photo© Roberto Ares
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| When the spittle masses become too heave they disintegrate into drops. This is known as "the weeping of the rosewoods". If dripping is intense puddles are formed on the ground. | |
 © Roberto Ares
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 © Cora Rimoldi
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| This phenomenon may be experienced under the rosewoods planted on the streets. Palermo is a neighbourhood with lots of rosewoods. But this phenomenon may well pass unnoticed since "the weeping of the rosewoods" is confused with "the weeping of the balconies". | |
| Dark-billed cuckooCoccyzus melacoryphus |
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 Amelia and Pablo tell us that they were watching this Dark-billed Cuckoo feed for a long time. It moved about the tree, jumping form one branch to the other in search for the spittle masses, caught the bug and ate it.Last November I wrote something on the biology of the spittlebug (See Rosewood). In this opportunity it is a link in the food chain, being predated by this cuckoo. What surprises me most is how malleable the spittle is that it kneads into a spaghetti-like string and keeps sticky without breaking. Photos © Amelia Besana
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