Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 117
11a. Calyx 2.1-4.1 cm long, in the form of a spathe, open distally along 2/3 of its length; corolla lilac
with the lobes purple and the center white or purple ............................................7. Phryganocydia
11b. Calyx 3-10 mm long, crateriform, truncate or denticulate at the apex; corolla violet or lilac with
the center yellow .............................................................................................................................. 12
12a. Corolla infundibuliform, 1.5-3 cm long, violet; mature stems quadrangular, sulcate; cross section
of the stem with 4 dark arms formed by the phloem tissue; foliage turning reddish on drying
............................................................................................................................. 2. Arrabidaea
12b. Corolla tubular-campanulate, 2.5-7.5 cm long, lilac with the center yellow; mature stems cylindrical;
cross section of the stem with 8 dark arms formed by the phloem tissue; foliage remaining green or
turning brown on drying ..................................................................................................... 3. Cydista
1. AMPHILOPHIUM
Lianas. Stems hexagonal with conspicuous obtuse ribs; cross section of the mature stem with a
cross of 4 (-5) arms formed by the phloem tissue; interpetiolar zones not glandular; pseudostipules
foliaceous, persistent or deciduous. Leaves usually 3-foliolate, with the terminal leaflet replaced by a
trifid tendril. Flowers produced in terminal panicles, usually on short axillary branches. Calyx
campanulate, double, with the inner margin thick, short and the outer undulate; corolla purple, tubular,
bilabiate; stamens 4, didynamous, the anthers glabrous; ovary superior, ovate-cylindrical, with 2 locules.
Fruit an oblong-elliptical capsule, the valves parallel to the septum; seeds with 2 hyaline wings not
very differentiated from the body. A neotropical genus of 7 species distributed from Mexico to northern
Argentina, including the Antilles.
1. Amphilophium paniculatum (L.) Kunth in
Humb. Bonpl. & Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp.
(quarto ed.) 3: 149. 1819.
Fig. 3. C, 43. A-C
BASIONYM: Bignonia paniculata L.
Liana that climbs by tendrils and attains 5-10
m in length. Stems up to 10 cm in diameter, the
bark fibrous, vertically striate; cross section of the
mature stem cylindrical, with a cross of 4(-5) dark
arms, formed by the phloem tissue; branches
acutely hexagonal, with ribbed margins, lepidote
or with dendroid pubescence; pseudostipules
foliaceous, 3-10 mm long, early deciduous. Leaves
2-foliolate, with a terminal tendril, filiform, trifid,
early deciduous; leaflets 2.5-16 × 2.1-10.7 cm,
ovate to suborbicular, membranaceous, the apex
acuminate or obtuse, the base truncate or
asymmetrically cordiform, the margins entire;
upper surface with minute, discoid, peltate scales,
sometimes pubescent; lower surface with minute
discoid, peltate scales, with the veins pubescent;
petioles and petiolules hexagonal, with lepidote
or dendroid pubescence; petiole 2.3-7.1 cm long;
petiolules 0.6-4.3 cm long. Flowers fragrant,
produced in terminal panicles, with deciduous
bracts, the axes lepidote or with dendroid
pubescence. Calyx double, the interior margin 2or
3-labiate, short, the outer 5-labiate, undulate,
7-12 mm long, densely lepidote; corolla white
with a purple tinge, tubular, bilabiate, 2.4-3.5 cm
long, the tube split for 1/3 - 2/3 of its length, the
2 upper lobes united, ca. 1 mm long, the 3 lower
lobes united, 1.3-1.8 cm long; stamens inserted;
ovary ovate-cylindrical, 2-3 mm long, with an
annular-pulvinate disc at the base. Capsules
elliptical, compressed, 3.9-9.5 cm long, verrucoselenticellate,
lepidote; seeds numerous, 1-1.9 cm
wide, with a membranaceous wing on each side.
Phenology: Collected in flower from August
to October.
Status: Native, uncommon.
Distribution: In secondary forests and thickets,
at middle to upper elevations, especially in the
zone of mogotes. From Mexico to northern
Argentina, including the Antilles.
Public forest: Río Abajo.