Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

294
Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
Public Forests: Cambalache, Ceiba, Guánica, Río
Abajo, and Susúa.
2. Acacia vogeliana Steud., Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2,
1: 9. 1840.
Fig. 117. G-J
SYNONYMS: Lysiloma vogeliana (Steud.) Stehlé
Acacia ambigua Vogel, non Hoffmans.
Lysiloma ambigua (Vogel) Urb.
Liana, not spiny, that climbs by means of
twining lateral branches and attains 10 m in
length. Stems cylindrical, striate, puberulent.
Leaves bipinnate, 6-13 cm long, puberulent;
pinnae in 5 pairs, pulvinate, with a pair of linear
glands above the pulvinus; rachis sulcate,
puberulent, with an annular gland between the
two pairs of basal and distal pinnae; leaflets 15-
16 pairs per pinna, 5-10 mm long, oblonglanceolate,
chartaceous, the apex obtuse,
mucronulate, the base obtuse-rounded, unequal,
the margins entire; both surfaces glabrous or
minutely puberulent; stipules minute, early
2. ENTADA
deciduous. Inflorescences of terminal panicles of
heads, ca. 1 cm in diameter. Calyx campanulate,
0.6-1 mm long, strigose; corolla white or creamcolored,
campanulate, strigose, 2-2.5 mm long;
stamens white, exserted. Legumes 6-16 × 2.5-3
cm, oblong, flattened, chartaceous, glabrous,
stipitate, with the seeds prominent, the margins
thickened and slightly undulate. Seeds 4-6 mm
long, elliptical, light brown.
Phenology: Collected in flower in August and
in fruit in January.
Status: Native, very rare.
Distribution: Known from a single collection
in Puerto Rico (at the entrance to La Parguera)
and another on St. John (entrance toward
Bordeaux); also in Hispaniola and probably on
Martinique.
Commentary: The collections (Acevedo 1, 3,
3242 and 5047) by which this species is known
from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands differ
from the type collection (from Hispaniola) in
having a climbing habit. The collections known
from Hispaniola are all of trees or shrubs.
Lianas; stems unarmed or spiny. Leaves alternate, bipinnate, sometimes with a terminal tendril;
pinnae opposite; leaflets numerous, opposite; petioles with or without nectariferous glands; stipules
small, setaceous; stipels minute. Flowers bisexual, produced on spikes arranged in paniculate
inflorescences; bracts minute. Calyx campanulate or crateriform, of 5 small sepals; corolla of free
petals; stamens 10, exserted, the filaments free at the base, the anthers with a deciduous apical gland;
ovary superior, subsessile, with numerous ovules, the style filiform. Fruit an oblong legume, straight or
recurved, flattened, articulate between the seeds, the margins thickened, separating from the valves
when ripe; seeds flattened, circular or reniform. A genus of about 15 species, of pantropical distribution.
1. Entada polystachya (L.) DC. var. polyphylla
(Benth.) Barneby, Brittonia 48: 175. 1996.
Fig. 118. A-D
SYNONYM: Entada polyphylla Benth.
Liana, not spiny, that climbs by means of foliar
tendrils (homologous to the two distal pinnae) and
attains 10 m in length. Stems more or less
cylindrical, striate. Leaves bipinnate, 15-25 cm
long; pinnae in 4-6 pairs; rachis slightly flattened
along the upper surface, puberulent; secondary
rachis carinate, puberulent, with a pair of stipels
below the basal pinnae; leaflets 10-20 pairs per
pinna, 10-16 mm long, oblong, coriaceous, the
apex obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, the base
asymmetrical, one side cuneate, the other truncate,
the margins entire, revolute; upper surface dark
green, glabrous or puberulent; lower surface pale
green, strigulose, with the midvein prominent;
petiole 3-3.5 cm long, with a long pulvinulus at
the base; stipules minute, early deciduous.
Inflorescences terminal, forming a raceme of
cylindrical spikes, 4-5 cm long. Calyx crateriform,
ca. 0.5 mm long, puberulent; petals oblong, green
or reddish brown, 1.2-1.5 mm long; stamens
white, slightly longer than the petals. Legumes