Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 123
superior, cylindrical, glandular-papillose, puberulent, with 2 locules, the ovules 2(3-4) seriate. Fruit a
linear-oblong capsule, compressed or convex, sometimes tuberculate, with the valves parallel to the
septum; seeds numerous, with 2 membranaceous wings or without wings. A genus of 15 species
distributed from Mexico to Brazil.
Key to the species of Mansoa
1a. Leaflets 9-30 cm long; lower surface with a group of minute punctiform glands in the axils of the
secondary veins (frequently of the basal and sub-basal veins); corolla 7.5-9 cm long; fruit 30-35 cm
long, woody, swollen, with a very prominent rib along each valve ............................ 1. M. alliacea
1b. Leaflets 6-10 cm long; lower surface without glands in the axils of the secondary veins; corolla 4.5-
6.5 cm long; fruits 15-25 cm long, coriaceous, compressed, with a slight rib along each valve
.......................................................................................................................2. M. hymenaea
1. Mansoa alliacea (Lam.) A. H. Gentry, Ann.
Missouri Bot. Gard. 66: 782. 1979.
Fig. 45. H
BASIONYM: Bignonia alliacea Lam.
SYNONYM: Adenocalymna obovatum Urb.
Bejuco de ajo, Mata de ajo
Woody vine, which climbs by tendrils and
attains 10-15 m in length. Young stems
quadrangular, with the angles ribbed; mature
stems cylindrical or subcylindrical, lenticellate;
cross section with a cross of 4 arms, formed by
the phloem tissue; nodes slightly compressed with
a glandular interpetiolar zone; pseudostipules
ovate, ca. 5 mm long. Leaves opposite, 2-foliolate,
sometimes with a terminal tendril, trifid,
deciduous, 20-25 cm long; leaflets 9-30 × 4.5-18
cm, elliptical or broadly elliptical, chartaceous,
the apex obtuse or obtusely acuminate, the base
acute, rounded, or obtuse and sometimes unequal,
the margins undulate or crenate; upper surface
dull, glabrous, with the venation slightly
prominent; lower surface light green, dull,
minutely lepidote, with the venation slightly
prominent, the axils of the secondary veins with
a group of minute punctiform glands; petioles and
petiolules glabrous, the petioles 7-30 mm long,
the petiolules with two keels formed by the
decurrent base of the blade, 7-30 mm long.
Flowers few, in axillary racemes; pedicels 7-15
mm long. Calyx green, campanulate or broadly
campanulate, simple, puberulous, 5-8 mm long,
truncate, slightly crenate at the apex; corolla
violet-pink or lavender, infundibuliform, 7.5-9 cm
long, the limb 4-5 cm in diameter, with five
rounded lobes; stamens inserted; ovary
cylindrical, lepidote. Capsule oblong, woody, light
brown, 30-35 × 2.5- 3 cm, swollen, with a
longitudinal rib on the middle portion of each of
the valves; seeds asymmetrically ovate,
compressed, thick, woody, 1.5-2 cm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower from October
to May and in fruit in October.
Status: Exotic, cultivated in Puerto Rico.
Distribution: Cited by Britton and P. Wilson
(1925) for the Agricultural Experiment Station
in Trujillo Alto. Species native to central South
America, from the Amazonian regions of Peru
and Brazil, also in Guyana.
2. Mansoa hymenaea (DC.) A. H. Gentry, Ann.
Missouri Bot. Gard. 66: 782. 1979.
Fig. 45. D-G
BASIONYM: Bignonia hymenaea DC.
Bejuco de ajo, Mata de ajo
Woody vine, with a strong odor of garlic,
which climbs by tendrils, 3-5 m in length. Young
stems angular to subcylindrical, striate,
puberulous to glabrous; mature stems cylindrical,
lenticellate; cross section with a cross of four arms,
formed by the phloem tissue; nodes slightly
compressed, with a glandular interpetiolar zone;
pseudostipules keeled, 2-3 mm long. Leaves
opposite, 2-foliolate, with a terminal trifid tendril,
early deciduous; leaflets 6-10 × 2.5-6 cm, elliptical
or ovate, chartaceous, the apex acute, obtuse, or
acuminate, the base acute, obtuse, or rounded,
sometimes unequal, the margins undulate; upper
surface dull, glabrous, with the venation slightly
prominent; lower surface light green, dull,
sparsely punctate-glandular, without glands in the
axils of the secondary veins, the venation slightly