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
4a. Rachis of the leaf with minute spines; leaves with 3-5 pairs of pinnae; seeds dark brown or almost
black......................…………………………...……………………………..…6. C. portoricensis
4b. Rachis of the leaf not spiny; leaves with 7 pairs of pinnae; seeds yellow-orange
.......................................................................................................................... 3. C. culebrae
5a. Leaflets 4-8 cm long, acute or short-acuminate at the apex; petals ca. 15 mm long
..............……………………………………………………………………………….. 5. C. major
5b. Leaflets 1-3 cm long, obtuse, rounded, or emarginate at the apex; petals 7-8 mm long
..............……………………………………………………………………………….… 2. C. ciliata
1. Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb., Fl. Ind. ed.
2, 2: 362. 1832.
Fig. 94. A-C
BASIONYM: Guilandina bonduc L.
SYNONYM: Caesalpinia crista sensu Urb. and sensu
Britton & Wilson
Mato de playa
Scandent shrub, much branched along the
main stem, attainig 2-6 m in length. Stems
cylindrical, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, densely
spiny. Leaves bipinnate, paripinnate, 30-75 × 10-
34 cm; pinnae 4-8 pairs, opposite; leaflets 3-7
pairs per pinna, opposite, 2.5-5(6.8) × 1.2-3 cm,
ovate, lanceolate, oblong, or elliptical,
chartaceous, glabrous or puberulent, the apex
obtuse, mucronate, the base truncate, rounded to
almost cordiform, the margins entire, revolute,
ciliate; upper surface dull; lower surface with the
midvein prominent; petiolules short, cylindrical;
petioles and rachis spiny; stipules foliaceous, up
to 1.5 cm long, persistent, divided into 3-5
segments. Flowers functionally unisexual, in
axillary or terminal racemes; rachis tomentose and
densely spiny; bracts lanceolate, 8-14 mm long,
persistent. Calyx campanulate, 4-6 mm long,
tomentose, the sepals reflexed, oblong. Petals
yellow, 5.5-8 mm long, spathulate; stamens 10,
of which 4 are fertile in the staminate flowers, all
sterile in the pistillate flowers; ovary sessile,
rudimentary in the staminate flower, the stigma
terminal. Legumes oblong, 4-7.5 × 2-4 cm, semiinflated,
densely spiny, tardily dehiscent along
both sutures. Seeds usually 2, ovoid or almost
globose, 1.5-2 cm long, gray.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from
October to March.
Status: Native, rather common.
Distribution: Along the sandy coasts of the
littoral zone. Also on Culebra, Mona, Vieques,
Anegada, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola,
and Virgin Gorda; along the tropical littoral
coasts.
Public Forests: Guánica, Mona, and Piñones.
2. Caesalpinia ciliata (Bergius ex Wikstr.)
Urb., Symb. Antill. 2: 275. 1900.
Fig. 94. D-F
BASIONYM: Guilandina ciliata Bergius ex Wikstr.
SYNONYM: Caesalpinia bonduc sensu Urb.
Guilandina melanosperma Eggers
Caesalpinia divergens Urb.
Mato de playa
Scandent shrub, with many lateral branches
along the main stem, attainig 6 m in length. Stems
cylindrical, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, densely
spiny. Leaves bipinnate, paripinnate, 20-35 × 10-
28 cm; pinnae 3-10 pairs, opposite; leaflets 4-8
pairs per pinna, opposite, 1.5-3 × 1-1.7 cm,
elliptical, ovate, or rounded, chartaceous, glabrous
or puberulent, the apex rounded, mucronate, the
base obtuse or cuneate, slightly unequal, the
margins entire, revolute, ciliate; upper surface
dull; lower surface with the midvein prominent;
petiolules short, cylindrical, tomentose; petioles
and rachis spiny; stipules lanceolate, acuminate,
0.5-1 mm long. Flowers functionally unisexual,
in axillary or terminal racemes; rachis tomentose
and densely spiny; bracts lanceolate, 3.5-6 mm
long, deciduous. Calyx campanulate, 4-5 mm
long, tomentose, the sepals reflexed, oblong.
Petals yellow, 4.5-6.5 mm long, spathulate;
stamens 10, four of which are fertile in the
staminate flowers, all sterile in the pistillate
flowers; ovary sessile, rudimentary in the
staminate flower, the stigma terminal. Legumes
oblong to almost rounded, 5-7.5 × 3-5.5 cm, semiinflated,
sparsely spiny, tardily dehiscent along
both sutures. Seeds 1-2, ovoid or rounded, 1.5-2
cm long, yellow to orange-brown or less frequently
black.