Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 113
7. Family BASELLACEAE
Key to the genera
1a. Corolla with petals connate only at the base, neither accrescent nor fleshy; stamens inserted at the
base of the corolla ............................................................................................................. 1. Anredera
1b. Corolla urceolate, tubular, 5-lobed, accrescent, fleshy, surrounding the fruit; stamens inserted on
the upper portion of the corolla tube .................................................................................. 2. Basella
1. ANREDERA
Herbaceous vines, clambering or twining. Stems usually fleshy. Leaves alternate, slightly succulent,
petiolate; blades simple; stipules absent. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual or functionally unisexual,
produced in pendulous, axillary or terminal racemes. Calyx of 2 free sepals, much shorter than the
corolla, united to the petals at the base; corolla not accrescent, with 5 petals connate at the base;
stamens 5, the filaments free or connate and united to the petals, the anthers oblong, dehiscent by
longitudinal sutures; ovary superior, of 3 carpels, the styles 3, free or connate at the base, as long as the
ovary. Fruit a utricle. A New World genus of about 12 species.
Key to the species of Anredera
1a. Pedicellar glands persistent; petals 2-3 mm long, turning blackish on drying; stigmatic branches as
long as the style ........................................................................................................... 1. A. cordifolia
1b. Pedicellar glands deciduous; petals 1.5-2.2 mm long, turning cream-colored on drying; stigmatic
branches 2 times as long as the style ........................................................................... 2. A. vesicaria
1. Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis, Fl. Males.,
Ser. 1, 5: 303. 1957.
Fig. 42. H-J
BASIONYM: Boussingaultia cordifolia Ten.
Madeira vine
Herbaceous vine, fleshy, twining, attaining 5
m in length. Roots tuberous. Stems glabrous,
cylindrical, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, producing
solitary or clustered bulbils. Leaves alternate;
blades 2.2-10 × 1.4-6.2 cm, ovate or broadly ovate,
glabrous, fleshy, the apex obtuse or acute, the base
cordiform, decurrent on the petiole, the margins
entire, hyaline or reddish; upper surface dull,
waxy, with the venation somewhat sunken; lower
surface lighter than the upper surface, with the
venation slightly prominent; petioles 6-12 mm
long, slightly winged. Flowers aromatic, turning
blackish on drying, apparently bisexual, in
terminal or axillary racemes or pendulous
panicles, up to 65 cm long; pedicels with
persistent bracts. Calyx of 2 white sepals, ovate
or broadly elliptical, 1.3-2.2 mm long; corolla of
5 white petals, ovate or elliptical, 2-3 mm long,
connate at the base; stamens 5, the filaments
connate at the base, 2-3.5 mm long, the anthers
lanceolate, 0.7-0.8 mm long; ovary globose or
obovoid, glabrous, stigmatic branches 3, as long
as the style. Utricles globose, slightly compressed
or triangular, 0.9-1.1 mm long, crowned by the
base of the fleshy style.
Phenology: Collected in flower in August and
September. Rarely produces fruits in Puerto Rico;
propagated by means of bulbils or underground
tubers.
Status: Exotic, cultivated as an ornamental,
naturalized, uncommon.
Distribution: In disturbed areas, at middle and
lower elevations. Native to the New World, but
extensively cultivated and naturalized throughout
the tropics and subtemperate zones.
Public forests: Guánica and Susúa.
Commentary: This species has been identified
erroneously as Anredera baselloides (Kunth)
Baill. by many botanists of the Caribbean flora.
Anredera baselloides is a different species, which