Sphinga platyloba is variable in terms of growth, the structure of its leaves, its hairiness, and number of stamens. Keeping that in mind, it can be said that the species is woody and stiffly branched. The branches are armed with conspicuous woody stipules in the form of stout spines up to 5mm long (~+13⁄64 inch). Leaves normally are twice divided into leaflets, the leaflets being paler on their undersurfaces than on their tops.[3]
Seven to 15 flowers are clustered in crowded, showy heads. The flowers' narrowly trumpet-shaped corollas are white, up to ~18mm long (~+7⁄10 inch). Usually 35-80 white and very conspicuous stamens emerge far beyond the corolla, each stamen tipped with a tiny, pollen-producing anther.[3]
Taxonomy
Within the Fabaceae family, Sphinga platyloba, in accordance with the Legume Phylogeny Working Group in 2017, currently is recognized as occupying the Mimosoid clade nested within the Caesalpinioideaesubfamily.[4]
In the Yucatan Peninsula Sphinga platyloba is described as inhabiting coastal dunes, forests of high to medium heights whose species bear evergreen or deciduous foliage, low deciduous forests, including those that occasionally flood, and mangroves.[6]
Human uses
In Mexico, Sphinga platyloba has been documented as suitable for woodworking and tanning, as medicinal and as providing food.[6]
Etymology
The first part of the genus name Sphinga references the moth family Sphingidae, the sphinx moths, which some assume to be the pollinators of Sphinga species; then for the -inga in Sphinga the name-makers pivot to the indigenous Brazilian Tupi language, in which the vernacular name for several species in the Mimosoid clade is Sphinx inga.[7]
In the species name platyloba, platy- is from the Greek πλατύς, platus, meaning wide, flat, large.[8] The -lobus is a New Latin term referring to parts of a plant which are flattened and not entirely separate from one another -- lobes.[9]
Taxonomy
In 1875, George Bentham grouped the three currently recognized species of Sphinga into an informal division of his Pithecolobium sect. Ortholobium. In 1928, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose transferred the three species to the genus Havardia. In 1996, Rupert Charles Barneby and John W. Grimes proposed the new genus Sphinga for these three species, on the basis that they differ from Havardia in the greatly elongated perianth with a long, silky corolla opening at nightfall.[7]
Part of this history is reflected in the following list of synonyms of the name Sphinga platyloba:
Synonyms
These were the synonyms of Sphinga platyloba recognized in September, 2025:[10]
HOMOTYPIC:
Acacia platylobaBertero ex DC. (1825)
Feuilleea platyloba(Bertero ex DC.) Kuntze (1891)
Havardia platyloba(Bertero ex DC.) Britton & Rose (1928)
Pithecellobium platylobum(Bertero ex DC.) Urb. (1908)
HETEROTYPIC:
Acacia platylobaSpreng. (1826)
Havardia leiocalyx(Standl.) Britton & Rose (1928)
Pithecellobium falconiensePittier (1927)
Pithecellobium leiocalyxStandl. (1919)
Pithecellobium leucosericeumStandl. & L.O.Williams ex Ant.Molina (1968)
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