Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 175
prominent; petioles 2.5-6 cm long, slender,
strigulose, sulcate. Flowers solitary or in simple
dichasia, axillary; peduncles longer than the
petioles; bracts subulate, ca. 3 mm long, not
forming an involucre. Calyx green, of 5 subequal
sepals, 8-16 mm long, chartaceous, oblonglanceolate,
the outer ones slightly broader than
the inner ones, acute at the apex, hirsute outside
on the basal portion; corolla blue, purple, pink,
or with lines (forming a star) of these colors on a
white background, infundibuliform, 4-4.5 cm
long, the throat white, limb with shallow, rounded
lobes; stamens and stigmas pink, not exserted.
Capsule depressed-globose, 9-10 mm in diameter,
glabrous, the pericarp thin, with the chartaceous
sepals persistent at the base; seeds 4 per fruit,
pyriform, 3-4 mm long, black, glabrous.
Phenology: Flowering from June to January.
Status: Exotic, uncommon.
Distribution: Along roads and in disturbed
places. Also on Vieques, St. Croix, St. Thomas,
and Tortola. Probably native to Mexico, but found
distributed throughout the tropics.
15. Ipomoea quamoclit L., Sp. Pl. 159. 1753.
Fig. 69. A-B
Herbaceous vine, twining, 2-7 m in length,
with watery latex. Stems cylindrical, slender,
glabrous. Leaves alternate or clustered on short
axillary branches; blades deeply pinnatisect, ovate
or elliptical in outline, with 9-19 pairs of linear
segments, alternate or opposite, 1-9 cm long,
chartaceous, puberulous or glabrous; petioles not
evident. Flowers solitary or 2-6 in cymes;
peduncles as long as or longer than the leaves;
bracts ovate, ca. 1 mm long. Calyx green, not
accrescent, of 5 unequal sepals, 4-7 mm long,
chartaceous, ovate, the outer ones shorter than
the inner ones, glabrous, obtuse at the apex, with
a mucro that is borne below the apex; corolla red
(sometimes white), hypocrateriform, 2-3 cm long,
the limb with deep lobes, deltate, obtuse; stamens
and stigmas pink, exserted. Capsule ovoid to
conical, with a thin pericarp, lepidote outside, 8-
10 mm long; seeds 4 per fruit, cuneiform, 7-8 mm
long, dark brown to black, with tufts of irregularly
scattered hairs.
Phenology: Flowering from August to
February, collected in fruit in February.
Status: Exotic, cultivated and naturalized,
uncommon.
Distribution: In disturbed areas. Cultivated on
St. Croix and St. Thomas. Possibly native to
Mexico, but today found distributed throughout
the tropics.
Public forests: Cambalache and Tortuguero.
16. Ipomoea repanda Jacq., Enum. Syst. Pl. 13.
1760.
Fig. 69. C-F
SYNONYM: Exogonium repandum (Jacq.) Choisy
Bejuco rosado, Bejuco colorado, Mari-de-Lugo
Herbaceous vine, twining, attaining 10 m in
length, usually producing abundant milky latex.
Roots tuberous, elongate or rounded. Stems
slender, glabrous, cylindrical, striate when young,
lenticellate on the mature portions. Leaves
alternate; blades simple, 5-18 × 1.5-13 cm,
glabrous, chartaceous, ovate, lanceolate, or
sometimes trilobed, the apex and lobes acute or
acuminate, mucronate, the base cordiform,
truncate, or rounded, the margins revolute, entire
or slightly undulate; upper surface dark green,
shiny; lower surface pale green, punctate, with a
prominent midvein; petioles 1.5-6 cm long,
sulcate, glabrous. Flowers in compound dichasial
cymes, pendulous; bracts deciduous. Calyx pink,
crateriform, not accrescent, the sepals unequal,
8-10 mm long, ovate, obtuse at the apex; corolla
bright pink, hypocrateriform, 4-5.5 cm long, the
limb with 5 deep lobes, oblong, obtuse, reflexed;
stamens and stigmas pink or white, exserted.
Capsules conical to ellipsoid, the pericarp thin,
pale brown, 1.2-1.5 cm long, apiculate; seeds 4
per capsule, black, 5-6 mm long, with two sides
flat and one convex, with a row of silky hairs
longer than the seed at the margins and the apex.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout
the year, especially from June to January.
Status: Native, very common.
Distribution: In moist forests of the Cordillera
Central, in the Sierra de Luquillo, and in the zone
of mogotes. Also on St. John, St. Thomas, and
Tortola; the Lesser Antilles.
Public forests: Carite, El Yunque, Guajataca,
Guilarte, Maricao, Río Abajo, and Toro Negro.