Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

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Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
prominent; petioles and petiolules puberulous;
petioles 1.3-3.5 cm long, the petiolules slightly
keeled by the decurrent base of the blade, 1-2.6
cm long. Flowers few in axillary racemes, 5-20
cm long; peduncles keeled. Calyx green,
campanulate, puberulous, 8-9 mm long, truncate
or denticulate, ciliate and with a purple tinge at
the apex; corolla violet-pink or lavender,
infundibuliform, 4.5-6.5 cm long, the tube lighter
than the lobes, the limb 2.5-4 cm in diameter,
with 5 rounded lobes; stamens inserted; ovary
cylindrical, lepidote. Capsule linear, long-
7. PHRYGANOCYDIA
acuminate, compressed, coriaceous, light brown,
15-25 × 1.7-2 cm, with a longitudinal vein in the
middle portion of each of the valves; seeds
numerous, 2-winged, oblong, membranaceous, ca.
3.3 cm long.
Phenology: Flowering from December to May
and fruiting from January to May.
Status: Exotic, cultivated and naturalized,
uncommon.
Distribution: Along roads. Species native to
the Neotropics, distributed from Mexico to
southeastern Brazil.
Lianas with tendrils. Stems cylindrical, glabrous or lepidote; cross section of the mature stem with
phloem forming a cross of 8 (4) arms; interpetiolar zone not glandular; pseudostipules inconspicuous
or absent. Leaves opposite, simple or 2-foliolate, usually with a terminal simple tendril. Flowers few,
in terminal or axillary panicles, scarcely branched. Calyx simple, in the form of a spathe, split along
T‡of its length; corolla lilac to purple, infundibuliform, lepidote outside; stamens 4, didynamous, the
anthers glabrous; ovary superior, conical or cylindrical, lepidote, with 2 locules, the ovules 2-seriate
per locule; disc absent. Fruit a linear capsule, oblong or ovoid (slightly compressed), coriaceous, with
valves parallel to the septum; seeds numerous, with or without 2 membranaceous wings. A genus of 3
species of tropical America, distributed from Costa Rica to Bolivia.
1. Phryganocydia corymbosa (Vent) Bureau ex
K.Schum. in Engl. & Prantl, Nat.
Pflanzenfam. 4, Abt. 3b: 224, fig. 89H. 1894.
Fig. 46. A-C
BASIONYM: Spathodea corymbosa Vent.
Liana that climbs by tendrils, attaining 10 m
in length. Stems subcylindrical, finely striate,
glabrous, up to 5 cm in diameter; cross section of
the mature stem with a cross of 8 arms formed by
the phloem tissue. Leaves opposite, 2-foliolate and
sometimes with a terminal, simple tendril, 7-16
cm long; leaflets 4-22 × 1.9-11 cm, elliptical or
ovate-elliptical, chartaceous or coriaceous,
glabrous, the apex acute, obtuse, or acuminate,
the base obtuse or rounded, usually trinerved, the
margins undulate; upper surface dark, shiny, with
the venation somewhat sunken; lower surface
slightly shiny, punctate, with prominent venation;
petioles 0.6-3.3 cm long, the petiolules 0.5-3 cm
long, slightly winged, both finely lepidote;
pseudostipules absent or inconspicuous and early
deciduous. Flowers in terminal or axillary
panicles, the axes finely lepidote and somewhat
compressed. Calyx green, in the form of a spathe,
split along 2/3 of its length, 2.1-4.1 cm long;
corolla lilac with the center white or purple,
infundibuliform, 4.6-9.5 cm long, the limb 4-8
cm in diameter, the lobes purple, crenate; stamens
4, didynamous, inserted; ovary cylindrical,
covered with punctiform scales. Capsule linearoblong,
subwoody, grayish, 13-53 cm long,
densely lepidote; seeds numerous, 1.5-2 cm long,
with a membranaceous wing, not differentiated
from the body of the seed
Phenology: Collected in flower in January.
Status: Exotic, cultivated, uncommon.
Distribution: Native to continental tropical
America, from Costa Rica to Bolivia. Cultivated
on St. Croix and St. Thomas.