Mucuna elliptica

Native to Jamaica and from eastern Ecuador through Peru and Bolivia to northwestern Brazil, this perennial woody vine grows in humid tropical habitats. Its large yellow or orange flowers hang in compact clusters, and the undersides of its three-part leaves bear erect golden hairs. The flattened seed pods lack the raised transverse ridges found in many related species. In Ecuador’s Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary, Napo tamarins have been observed feeding at its flowers. Photographed in Colombia.