Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 225
1. Doliocarpus brevipedicellatus Garcke,
Linnaea 22: 47. 1849.
Fig. 90. A-J
Twining liana attainig 5 m or more in length.
Branches angular, appressed-pubescent. Leaves
5-16 × 2.5-8 cm, lanceolate or less frequently
elliptic-lanceolate, coriaceous or subcoriaceous,
the upper surface pilose on the primary vein, the
lower surface strigose on the secondary veins, the
apex acuminate, the base cuneate or rounded, the
margins deeply dentate-mucronate; petioles 0.5-
1.2 cm long, strigose. Inflorescences fasciculate,
racemose, with 3-5 flowers; peduncles and
pedicels appressed-pubescent. Calyx of 4-5
unequal sepals, pilose outside, the outer ones 1.5-
2 mm long, lanceolate, the inner ones 3-3.5 mm
long, ovate-elliptical; petals 2-3 mm long, white;
stamens 25-40; pistil glabrous. Capsules 4-7 mm
in diameter, irregularly dehiscent. Seed one.
Phenology: Collected in flower in March.
Status: Native, uncommon in Puerto Rico.
2. PINZONA
A monotypic genus characterized by the following species.
1. Pinzona coriacea Mart. & Zucc. in Zucc., Abh.
Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss.
1: 371. 1832.
Fig. 1C; 91. A-K
SYNONYM: Doliocarpus calinoides (Eichl.) Gilg.
Bejuco de agua
Twining liana attainig 30 m in length; stems
cylindrical, up to 10 cm in diameter, producing
abundant potable water when cut; bark reddish
brown, peeling in a scaly manner; cross section
with concentric rings of xylem alternating with
rings of parenchyma. Branches puberulent,
angular, scabrous, glabrescent, and cylindrical
when mature. Leaves alternate, 8.5-22 × 3-12.5
cm, broadly elliptical, ovate to obovate,
coriaceous, the apex rounded, sometimes shortapiculate,
the base rounded to subcordiform, the
margins revolute, sinuate, or dentate-mucronate;
upper surface scabrid, sometimes with the veins
Distribution: Known from the zone of
mogotes. Its distribution in the Neotropics is
rather widespread, being found in Hispaniola,
Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the
Guianas, Brazil, and Bolivia.
Commentary: This species was treated by
Liogier (1994) in his “Descriptive Flora of Puerto
Rico and adjacent islands, Vol. 3” as a synonym
of Doliocarpus major Gmel. This error was
initiated by Hunter in 1965, but corrected by
Kubitzki in 1971. Doliocarpus major is a South
American species that is distinguished from D.
brevipedicellatus, among other things, by having
longer inflorescences and papillae on the lower
surface of the leaves.
Excluded species: Doliocarpus olivaceus
Sprague & R.O. Williams ex Standl. was reported
for Puerto Rico by Liogier (1994) based on the
erroneous identification of a specimen of Pinzona
coriacea. This species is known from Venezuela,
the Guianas, Brazil, and Bolivia, but not from
the Antilles.
appressed-pubescent; lower surface with
prominent venation, papillose; petioles thick, 1-
3.5 cm long, winged, with the base decurrent to
half the diameter of the branch. Inflorescences of
axillary panicles, 3-7 cm long, pilose; bracts
oblong to ovate, 1-2 mm long. Calyx of 3-4
subequal sepals, ca. 2 mm long; petals 3, obovate,
longer than the sepals; stamens 25-30, the
filaments sinuate; ovary superior, bicarpellate,
biglobose, glabrous. Fruit capsular, bilobate,
bilocular, crustose, tardily dehiscent. Seeds 2 per
fruit, with an orange arillode.
Phenology: Collected in flower in May and
June and in fruit in November.
Status: Native, locally common.
Distribution: In moist, mature forests of
montane areas, in the Cordillera Central and the
Sierra de Luquillo. From Belize to Bolivia,
including the Antilles.
Public Forests: Carite and El Yunque.