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
the upper portion; bracts deltate, ca. 1 mm long.
Calyx light green, not accrescent, the sepals equal,
5-7 mm long, ovate, glabrous, verrucose, the apex
obtuse or rounded and mucronate; corolla pale
violet or purple, infundibuliform, 1.5-2 cm long,
the limb 1.5-1.7 cm in diameter, with 5 obtuse
lobes; stamens and stigmas not exserted. Capsule
conical, 1-1.5 cm long, glabrous, the pericarp thin;
seeds 4 per fruit, elongate, obtusely triangular,
tomentulose, ca. 1 cm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower in November
and in fruit in February.
Status: Apparently exotic, rare.
Distribution: Known only from three
collections in Puerto Rico, one from the Guánica
Lagoon (Sintenis 3619), another from Sabana
Grande (Sintenis 7019), and the last from Dorado
(Woodbury, s.n.). A pantropical species of
unknown origin, widely distributed in the New
World.
Additional Species: Ipomoea eriocarpa R.Br.
and Ipomoea pestigris L. have been collected in
5. JACQUEMONTIA
Twining or creeping vines, herbs, or decumbent shrubs, apparently without milky latex. Leaves
alternate, petiolate; blades simple, entire or lobed, usually punctate; stipules absent. Flowers bisexual,
actinomorphic, in compound or less frequently simple dichasial cymes, axillary; peduncles usually
elongate. Calyx of 5 free sepals, not accrescent, equal or unequal; corolla campanulate, infundibuliform,
rotate, or hypocrateriform, the limb entire to deeply 5-lobed; stamens 5, inserted or exserted, the filaments
usually unequal, the anthers lanceolate; ovary superior, 2-locular, the style solitary with two elongate
stigmas, oblong to ellipsoid, slightly compressed. Fruits capsular, 4-valvate, but each valve opening in
two; seeds 4 per fruit, triangular, glabrous or pubescent. A predominantly neotropical genus of about
100 species.
Key to the species of Jacquemontia
Puerto Rico from cultivated plants; nevertheless,
neither of these is common in our gardens, nor
are they found naturalized.
Doubtful Species: Ipomoea krugii Urb. is
known only from the type collection made by
Leopoldo Krug (no. 776) in Mayagüez between
1868 and 1876. The type collection of this species,
like its illustration (Krug, Flora Portoricensis
icones, Fig. 128) were deposited in the Botanical
Museum of Berlin, but were destroyed during the
Second World War. Today, the only surviving
material of this species is a photograph of the
illustration (distributed by the Field Museum in
Chicago). The description of this species agrees
in numerous aspects with Ipomoea triloba and,
since the presumed species has not been collected
for more than a century, it is possible that it
represents a teratological collection of I. triloba
with white flowers or some other ornamental
species that has not become naturalized in Puerto
Rico.
1a. Corollas tubular, red or crimson................................................................................ 5. J. solanifolia
1b. Corollas infundibuliform or rotate, white, blue, pink, or lavender. ................................................. 2
2a. Cymes compact, forming a head; bracts foliaceous, > 1.5 cm long, forming an involucre at the base
of the inflorescence; plant hirsute ..............................................................................6. J. tamnifolia
2b. Cymes open, not forming a head; bracts minute, not forming an involucre at the base of the
inflorescence; plant tomentose, pubescent, or glabrous. .................................................................. 3
3a. Corollas rotate, blue, the limb pentagonal in outline. ......................................................................4
3b. Corollas infundibuliform, white, lavender, or pink, the limb deeply lobed. ................................... 5
4a. Plant ferruginous-tomentose; corolla violet-blue...................................................... 2. J. cumanenis
4b. Plant sparsely pubescent; corolla brilliant blue ........................................................4. J. pentanthos