Coinvine

Dalbergia ecastaphyllum, commonly called coinvine in English and rabo-de-bugio in Brazil, is a sprawling evergreen shrub or small tree of the Fabaceae family native to coastal Neotropical regions, occurring from Florida and the West Indies through Central America to coastal Brazil, and also along the West African coast. It typically grows 2 to 5 m tall, often forming impenetrable thickets along sandy shores, mangrove margins and brackish swamps. The alternate, simple (rather than pinnate) leaves are leathery, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 5 to 13 cm long, with an acuminate apex, glabrous upper surface and finely pubescent underside. Small, white, papilionaceous flowers about 6 mm long are borne in dense axillary panicles, fragrant and attractive to bees. The fruit is a flattened, indehiscent, papery pod 2 to 4 cm long containing a single seed in a thickened central section, the distinctive coin-like outline giving the English common name.