Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 135
1. Tournefortia bicolor Sw., Prodr. 40. 1788.
Fig. 50. A-E
SYNONYM: Tournefortia laevigata Lam.
Woody vine, twining, attaining 10 m in length.
Stems cylindrical, strigose, glabrous when mature,
attaining 4-5 cm in diameter. Leaves alternate;
blades 4-15 × 2.5-8 cm, lanceolate or elliptical,
chartaceous, the apex acute or short-acuminate,
the base cuneate or obtuse, the margins entire or
crenulate; upper surface glabrous or appressedpubescent
or scabrid, puberulous on the venation,
lower surface glabrous, with prominent
puberulous venation; petioles sulcate, strigulose,
5-25 mm long. Flowers numerous, sessile, in
scorpioid cymes, branched, the axes strigose.
Calyx green, crateriform, strigose, the sepals
subulate, 1.5-2 mm long; corolla white,
hypocrateriform, 4-6 mm long, strigose outside,
the lobes ovate, spreading, ca. 1 mm long; stamens
inserted; ovary ovoid, with 4 chambers, the stigma
sessile. Drupe globose, white, ca. 8 mm in
diameter, separating into 4 pyrenes on drying.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from
February to August.
Status: Native, uncommon.
Distribution: In moist forests and along stream
banks. Also on St. John and St. Thomas;
throughout tropical America.
Public forests: El Yunque, Río Abajo, and Toro
Negro.
2. Tournefortia hirsutissima L., Sp. Pl. 140.
1753.
Fig. 50. F-J
Nigua, Chiggernit, Chiggernit grape, Giniper
Twining liana or climbing shrub, 6-10 m in
length. Stems woody, up to 2 cm in diameter, the
bark somewhat corky, cream-colored, usually with
persistent petioles; branches fragile, cylindrical,
hirsute or tomentose, usually hollow in the center
on drying. Leaves alternate; blades 12-22 × 2-11
cm, elliptical, oblong, or sometimes obovate,
chartaceous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base
acute, the margins entire, ciliate; upper surface
dark, dull, hirsute, with the venation sunken;
lower surface pale green, dull, hirsute, with
prominent venation; petioles cylindrical, hispid,
10-12 mm long. Flowers numerous, fragrant,
subsessile, in branched scorpioid cymes,
corymbiform, terminal. Calyx green, crateriform,
pubescent, of 5 lanceolate sepals, ca. 3 mm long;
corolla white, hypocrateriform, 4-5 mm long,
strigose outside. Drupe white, subglobose, 5-6 mm
in diameter.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from
November to September.
Status: Native, very common.
Distribution: In pastures or areas of disturbed
vegetation, in moist zones at middle and lower
elevations. Also on Mona, Vieques, St. Croix, St.
John, St. Thomas, and Tortola; the Greater and
Lesser Antilles, Central America, South America,
and the United States (Florida).
Public forests: El Yunque, Guilarte, Maricao,
Mona, Piñones, Río Abajo, Toro Negro,
Tortuguero, and Vega.
3. Tournefortia maculata Jacq., Enum. Syst. Pl.
14. 1760.
Fig. 51. A-F
SYNONYM: Tournefortia laurifolia Vent.
Tournefortia peruviana Poir.
Bejuco de masa
Vine or clambering or arcuate subshrub, 2-5
m in length. Stems cylindrical, glabrous, not
lenticellate. Leaves alternate; blades 5-12 (16) ×
2.8-8 cm, elliptical, oblong, ovate, broadly ovate,
or lanceolate, chartaceous or membranaceous, the
apex acute, the base rounded, acute, or sometimes
unequal, the margins entire; upper surface
glabrous, shiny, with a prominent midvein; lower
surface glabrous, shiny with the venation slightly
prominent; petioles 1-1.8 cm long. Flowers
numerous, pedicellate, in cymes with scorpioid
branches, terminal, with puberulous axes. Calyx
green, crateriform, 2-3 mm long, the sepals ovate
or lanceolate, puberulous; corolla yellow,
infundibuliform, 5-6 mm long, puberulous or
glabrescent outside, minutely pubescent-papillose
inside, the lobes subulate, long-acuminate, slightly
reflexed; stamens inserted, the filaments very
short, the anthers apiculate at the apex. Drupes
depressed-globose, 2-4-lobed, ca. 8 mm in
diameter, orange, sometimes with 2 or 4 circular
black spots.
Phenology: Flowering from February to
August and fruiting from March to August.
Status: Native, locally common.