Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 197
1. Stictocardia tiliifolia (Desr.) H. Hallier, Bot.
Jahrb. Syst. 18: 159. 1893.
Fig. 78. A-D
BASIONYM: Convolvulus tiliaefolius Desr.
SYNONYM: Rivea campanulata sensu House, non (L.) House
Woody vine, creeping or climbing, twining,
attaining 5 m in length, with scarce milky latex.
Stems slender, cylindrical, glabrous or pubescent,
with numerous short lateral branches. Leaves
alternate; blades simple, 5-17 × 5-12 cm, ovate
to subrounded, chartaceous, glabrous, the apex
acute, obtuse, or short-acuminate and mucronate,
the base cordiform or sagittate, the margins
undulate; upper surface dull with the venation flat;
lower surface dull, punctate, with prominent
venation; petioles 10-15 cm long, subcylindrical,
slightly sulcate, glabrous. Flowers solitary or in
simple cymes, axillary. Calyx green, the sepals
glabrous, unequal, 1.7-2 cm long, overlapping,
ovate or rounded; corolla pink or lavender, 6-8
cm long, the limb up to 6 cm in diameter, with
rounded lobes; stamens and stigmas pink, not
exserted. Fruit globose, 2.5-3 cm long, brown,
tardily dehiscent by the dissolution of the pericarp,
covered by the accrescent sepals; seeds obtusely
triangular or rounded, ca. 1 cm long, brown,
velvety.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from
December to February.
Status: Exotic, naturalized in disturbed areas,
uncommon.
Distribution: In areas of low elevation, on the
north and west coasts. Also on Cayo Santiago,
Vieques, St. Croix. St. John, St. Thomas, and
Tortola. Native to tropical Asia, but dispersed
throughout the tropics because of its cultivation.