Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 149
14. Family CELASTRACEAE
Key to the genera
1a. Leaves slightly shiny on the upper surface, chartaceous, the margins crenulate or serrate, the tertiary
veins inconspicuous; filaments of the stamens broadened gradually toward the base, adnate to the
floral disc; petals pubescent on the distal portion ...................................................... 1. Hippocratea
1b. Leaves dull on the upper surface, coriaceous, the margins subentire, denticulate, or crenulate, the
tertiary veins conspicuous; filaments of the stamens more or less of the same width along their
length, inserted on the floral disc; petals glabrous ....................................................... 2. Pristimera
1. HIPPOCRATEA
Lianas with opposite branches, elongate, twining. Leaves opposite, petiolate; blades simple, crenate,
or serrulate; petioles slender; stipules absent. Flowers minute, bisexual, actinomorphic, in axillary
cymes, panicles, corymbs, or pseudoracemes; bracts small, chartaceous. Calyx rotate, of 5 rounded
sepals; corolla of 5 free petals; disc fleshy, pulviniform; stamens 3, the filaments adnate to the upper
portion of the disc; ovary superior, 3-carpellate, obtusely triangular, trilocular, with 4-6 ovules per
locule, the style subulate, the stigma inconspicuous. Fruit of 3 divergent, flattened mericarps, each
dehiscent by a medial suture; seeds compressed, with a basal wing. A genus of 3 species, 2 in Africa
and 1 in the Neotropics.
1. Hippocratea volubilis L., Sp. Pl. 1191. 1753.
Fig. 58. A-H
SYNONYM: Hippocratea ovata Lam.
Bejuco prieto
Woody vine, climbing, which supports itself
on other plants by twining lateral branches and
attains 10-15 m in length. Stems green,
quadrangular, becoming grayish and cylindrical
when mature; branches opposite, twining,
developing before the leaves. Leaves opposite;
blades 4-17 × 2-8 cm, elliptical or oblong,
coriaceous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base
obtuse or rounded, sometimes unequal, the
margins crenulate or slightly serrate; upper
surface shiny, glabrous, with the veins slightly
sunken; lower surface pale green, dull, glabrous,
with the venation slightly prominent; petioles 3-
7 mm long; stipules absent. Flowers numerous,
in axillary corymbs. Calyx yellowish green, of 5
rounded sepals, ca. 1 mm long; corolla of 5
yellowish or whitish petals, free, oblanceolate, 2.5-
3 mm long, pubescent on the distal portion;
stamens 3, the filaments connate into a conical
disc, which almost totally surrounds the ovary;
ovary superior, tricarpellate, the style one, with a
punctiform stigma. Mericarps 3, divergent,
flattened, conspicuously veined, 4-8 cm long;
seeds few, winged, ca. 4 cm long, the seed-bearing
portion elliptical, the wing oblong.
Phenology: Flowering throughout the year and
fruiting from October to January.
Status: Native, very common.
Distribution: In secondary forests and along
roadsides at middle and lower elevations in moist
areas. Also on Vieques; the Antilles, Central
America, South America, and the United States
(Florida).
Public forests: Cambalache, Ceiba, El Yunque,
Guajataca, Maricao, Río Abajo, Susúa, and Vega.