Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 213
1. Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb., Hort. Beng. 70.
1814.
Fig. 85. D-E
BASIONYM: Cucumis acutangula L.
Esponja, Estropajo
Herbaceous vine, monoecious, creeping or
climbing by axillary tendrils, attaining 5-10 m in
length. Stems green, angular, scabrous; tendrils
trifid. Leaves alternate; blades 15-20 cm long, 5-
7-palmatilobed, chartaceous, the lobes more or
less deep, the apex acute or acuminate, the base
cordiform or hastate, the margins sinuate-dentate
or denticulate; upper surface scabrous; lower
surface pale green, scabrous; petioles 8-10 cm
long. Flowers unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx
urceolate, with keeled lobes, 10-12 mm long,
triangular; corolla pale yellow, the lobes deep,
obtuse. Staminate flowers in racemes; stamens 3,
the filaments free, 3-4 m long, villous. Pistillate
flowers solitary, with a hypanthium < 1 cm long;
staminodia 3, minute, glandular; ovary inferior,
tricarpellate, claviform, 10-angled, with numerous
horizontal ovules, the style short, the stigmas
globose. Fruit claviform, with 10 longitudinal ribs,
15-30 cm long, the pericarp crustose, dehiscent
by apical pores; seeds numerous, ovate, 11-12 mm
long, blackish, rugose.
Phenology: Collected in fruit in July.
Status: Exotic, cultivated and naturalized
(according to Britton, 1925), uncommon.
Distribution: Probably native to the
paleotropics, in disturbed areas along roads and
moist forest margins in central Puerto Rico.
Cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics.
2. Luffa aegyptiaca Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8.
1768.
Fig. 85. A-C
10. MELOTHRIA
SYNONYM: Luffa cilindrica M. Roem.
Esponja, Estropajo, Sponge cucumber,
Strainer vine
Herbaceous vine, monoecious, climbing by
axillary tendrils, attaining 10 m in length. Stems
green, slender, subcylindrical or angular, ribbed,
glabrous or puberulous; tendrils trifid. Leaves
alternate; blades 11-25 (35) × 7-25 (32) cm, 3-7palmatilobed,
chartaceous, the lobes lanceolate or
ovate, the apices acute or acuminate, the base
cordiform, the margins entire or serrate; upper
surface scabrid; lower surface pale green, scabrid;
petioles as long as or longer than the blade.
Flowers unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx green,
campanulate, the lobes 12-15 mm long,
lanceolate; corolla pale yellow, 2.5-4.5 cm long,
the lobes ovate, obtuse. Staminate flowers in
racemes 12-15 cm long; stamens 5, not exserted,
the filaments free, 3-4 m long, villous. Pistillate
flowers solitary, with a hypanthium ca. 3 cm long;
ovary inferior, tricarpellate, ellipsoid, with
numerous horizontal ovules, the style short, the
stigmas globose. Fruit trigonal, slightly sulcate,
20-45 cm long, the pericarp crustose, dehiscent
by apical pores, the mesocarp forming a network
of fibers; seeds numerous, elliptical, 10-13 mm
long, black, smooth.
Phenology: Flowering from November to
January and fruiting in January and from July to
August.
Status: Exotic, cultivated and naturalized,
uncommon.
Distribution: Native to the paleotropics,
cultivated, escaped, or naturalized, in disturbed
areas along roads and moist forest margins in
central Puerto Rico. Also on St. Croix, St. John,
and St. Thomas. Cultivated throughout the tropics
and subtropics.
Herbaceous vines, monoecious, with axillary tendrils; latex watery. Leaves alternate, petiolate;
blades simple, entire or lobed; stipules absent. Flowers unisexual, actinomorphic; calyx crateriform,
with 5 minute lobes; corolla campanulate, short-tubular, the lobes more or less deep, expanded; staminate
flowers in axillary racemes; stamens 3, the filaments free, the anthers free or concrescent; pistillate
flowers solitary, with 3 staminodia; ovary inferior, ovoid or fusiform, tricarpellate, the style short,
simple, the stigmas 3, linear. Fruit a smooth berry, small, ovoid or ellipsoid; seeds numerous, minute,
without an aril. A neotropical genus of about 10 species.