Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Cordia lutea
muyuyo, flor de overo, overal, uva, yellow cordia, yellow geiger
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).
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)
Origin: Native
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).
- Adsersen, A. Adsesen, H. (1987) Botanical Investigation in 1987 Annual Report 1986-1987. Charles Darwin Research Station. Botany. Pg 32,33.
- Adsersen, A. Adsersen, H. (1987) Botanical Investigations in 1987 Annual Report 1986-1687. Charles Darwin Research Station. Botany pg 32- 50
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- Andersson, N.J. (1858) Flora of the Galápagos Islands (translated from Swedish). Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Academien Botanik 1: 3-34
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- McMullen, C.K. (2011) Pollination of the heterostylos Galápagos native, Cordia lutea (Boraginaceae) Plant Syst Evol (2012) 298:569-579
- McMullen, C.K. (1999) Flowering plants of the Galapagos. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 370 pp.
- 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.
- Riley, L.A.M. (1925) Critical Notes on Galápagos Plants (St. George Pacific Expedition, 1924). Kew Bull. Misc. Info. 1925(5): 216-231.
- 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.
- 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/
- 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).
- Schofield, E.K. (1971) Field Guide to Some Common Galápagos Plants. Lindblad Travel, Inc., NY: 1-42.
- Schofield, E.K. (1984) Plants of the Galapagos Islands. Field Guide and Travel Journal. Universe Books, New York, 159 pp.
- Schönitzer, K. (1975) Galápagos Plants. Privately Published, Quito: 1-43.
- 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.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
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 19 February 2026.