Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

222
Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
reflexed, 10-12 mm long, lanceolate; corolla
yellow, campanulate, 2.5-4 cm long, tomentose;
stamens 3; staminodia 3; ovary ovoid, 5-6 mm
long, puberulent. Berry pendulous, cylindrical or
ellipsoid, 30-50 cm long and ca. 10 cm in
diameter, yellowish brown or mulberry-colored;
seeds, numerous, asymmetrically ovate,
compressed, with the margin darker, 13.5-15 mm
long.
Phenology: Collected in flower and fruit
during August.
Status: Exotic, cultivated, common.
Distribution: Species native to South America,
cultivated in Puerto Rico and the Greater Antilles
for its edible fruits, which are found for sale in
the public markets.
References: Cogniaux, A. 1916. Cucurbitaceae-Fevilleae et Melothrieae. Pp. 1-246. In: A. Engler
(ed.). Das Pflanzenreich. IV. 275. Jeffrey, C. and B. Trujillo. 1992. Cucurbitaceae. Flora de Venezuela.
Vol. 5(1): 11-201. Kirkbride, J. H. 1993. Biosystematic monograph of the genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae).
Parkway Publishers. Boone, North Carolina. Purseglove, J.W. 1982. Tropical crops. Dicotyledons.
Longman Group Ltd.; Whitaker, T.W. and G.W. Bohn. 1950. The taxonomy, genetics, production and
uses of the cultivated species of Cucurbita. Econ. Bot. 4: 52-81.
20. Family CUSCUTACEAE
1. CUSCUTA
Herbs with more or less long twining stems, without chlorophyll, parasites by means of haustoria.
Leaves alternate, rudimentary, reduced to minute scales; stipules absent. Flowers minute, bisexual,
actinomorphic, in axillary heads or spikes; calyx crateriform, of 4-5 free or connate sepals; corolla
white or pink, tubular, with 4-5 lobes; stamens 4-5, the filaments adnate to the corolla tube, with a
basal appendage on the ventral surface, the anthers longitudinally dehiscent; ovary superior, bicarpellate,
each carpel with 2 ovules, the styles 2, free. Fruit a capsule, circumscissile or with irregular dehiscence,
or an indehiscent berry; seeds (1)2-4 per fruit, minute.
1. Cuscuta americana L., Sp. Pl. 124. 1753.
Fig. 89. A-H
Fideillo, Tente en el aire
Herbaceous parasitic vine, attaining 5 m in
length, with numerous lateral twining branches
that adhere by means of haustoria. Stems yelloworange,
cylindrical, smooth, glabrous, 1.5-2.5 mm
in diameter. Leaves vestigial, 1-2 mm long,
yellowish, in the form of scales. Flowers bisexual,
sessile, in short axillary cymes. Calyx crateriform,
whitish, membranaceous, 2.3-2.5 mm long, with
5 minute lobes; corolla whitish, crateriform to
tubular, ca. 2.3 mm long, with 5 minute and
rounded lobes; stamens 5, adnate to the upper
portion of the corolla tube, the filaments with a
scalloped scale at the base; ovary depressedglobose.
Capsule thin-walled, 1.5-2 mm long,
opening longitudinally in the area between the
two styles. Seed one or rarely two per fruit,
subglobose or lenticular, ca. 1.5 mm long, smooth,
light brown.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout
the year.
Status: Native, very common
Distribution: In coastal thickets. Also on
Desecheo, Mona, Vieques, St. Croix, St. John, St.
Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; throughout
the Neotropics.
Public forests: Ceiba, Guánica, and Mona.