Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

290
Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
drying. Seeds rectangular, ca. 4.5 mm long, black,
shiny.
Phenology: Collected in fruit in March.
Status: Native, very rare.
Distribution: Known from a single collection
from Boca de Cangrejos, apparently along the
sandy coast. Predominant along the tropical coasts
of the Old World. In the New World, it is known
from a few collections from Panama and Brazil.
Commentary: The application of the name V.
marina is rather confused, and needs an
explanatory note. This epithet was originally
published by Burman based on the work of
Rumphius (Index Alt. Herb. Amboin. 5: 391, tab.
141 fig. 2, 1750). As a result, the name Vigna
marina is typified by the illustration presented in
that work. Nevertheless, the examination of this
illustration reveals that in reality it represents the
species that today bears the name V. luteola. Due
to the code of nomenclature’s principle of priority,
the name V. luteola should be replaced with V.
marina. Nevertheless, the name Vigna luteola
could be maintained if the name V. marina was
conserved with a different type, so as to preserve
the traditional use of both names. In this treatment
I use the traditional nomenclature in anticipation
of a proposal to conserve the name V. marina with
a different type. As a result, V. retusa becomes a
synonym of V. marina.
7. Vigna peduncularis (Kunth) Fawcett &
Rendle, Fl. Jam. 4(2): 68. 1920.
Fig. 116. A-D
BASIONYM: Phaseolus peduncularis Kunth
Herbaceous vine, creeping or climbing
twining, attainig 2 m in length. Stems branched
from the base, slender, almost cylindrical,
puberulent, usually producing roots in the area of
the nodes. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets
chartaceous, ovate-deltate or lanceolate, 3-8 × 1.5-
5 cm, both surfaces glabrous, the venation slightly
prominent on the lower surface, the apex acute,
acuminate, or less frequently obtuse, the base
cuneate, the margins entire, slightly ciliate;
terminal leaflet larger than the lateral ones; lateral
leaflets asymmetrical at the base, one side obtuse,
the other cuneate or truncate; petiolules ca. 3 mm
long, puberulent; rachis 5-10 mm long, striate;
petioles 2-7 cm long, striate, slender, glabrous;
stipels obovate, ca. 1 mm long; stipules oblong or
lanceolate, 2-2.5 mm long. Pseudoracemes
axillary, up to 26 cm long, the flowers 2 per node,
in the distal portion of the inflorescence;
peduncles thick, glabrous or puberulent; pedicels
ca. 1 mm long, erect, with the calyx in an
ascending position. Calyx green, campanulate,
puberulent, 2.2-2.5 mm long, the sepals more or
less equal, broadly deltate, except for the abaxial
one, which is narrower and slightly longer; corolla
pale pink, standard obovate, unguiculate, ca. 8
mm long, the wings and the keel as long as the
standard, the wings oblong, sinuate, unguiculate,
the keel spirally twisted. Legumes ascendent,
linear, flattened, straight, with the margins
slightly undulate, 4-5.5 cm long, ca. 3 mm wide,
puberulent, punctate. Seeds oblong, ca. 3.5 mm
long, light brown with blackish spots, the hilum
white, ca. 2 mm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower and fruit in
November and January.
Status: Native, uncommon.
Distribution: In disturbed places like roadsides
and pastures. Also in the Antilles, Central
America, and South America.
Public Forest: Río Abajo.
8. Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., Repert. Bot.
Syst. 1: 779. 1842.
Fig. 116. E-F
BASIONYM: Dolichos unguiculatus L.
Frijol, Cowpea
Herbaceous vine, climbing and twining,
attainig 3-5 m in length. Stems up to 5 mm in
diameter, cylindrical, glabrous, wine-colored
when young. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets
chartaceous, 5-14.6 × 3-10.5 cm, both surfaces
glabrous, with slightly prominent venation, the
apex obtuse or acute, mucronate, the margins
sinuate to lobate; terminal leaflet rhombic-ovate
or rhombic-lanceolate, the base cuneate, with the
point rounded or sometimes subcordiform; lateral
leaflets markedly asymmetrical, one side oblong,
the other ovate or lanceolate, the base cuneate or
truncate; petiolules 4-5 mm long, puberulent,
winged; rachis 0.5-3.5 cm long, canaliculate,
marginate or winged; petioles 1-10 cm long,
canaliculate, marginate or winged, glabrous,
thick, broadened at the base; stipels oblong or
obovate, ca. 2 mm long; stipules peltate,