Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 349
surfaces; petioles ca. 1 mm long, strigulose.
Inflorescences of terminal racemes; pedicels ca.
6 mm long, minutely sericeous; calyx of 5 sepals,
unequal, the 3 outer ones 2-4 mm long, pink,
rounded, strigulose, the inner ones petaloid, 8-12
mm long, pink, rounded; keel white, ca. 8 mm
long, the upper petals yellow, fleshy, slightly
shorter than the keel. Samara 3-4 cm long,
minutely sericeous, especially the seminiferous
locule, the wing with reticulate venation, 2-3 × 1
cm.
36. Family POLYGONACEAE
1. ANTIGONON
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout
the year.
Status: Native, very common.
Distribution: In disturbed areas, on roadsides,
in pastures, and in secondary forests at lower and
middle elevations. Also on Vieques, Cuba and
Hispaniola.
Public Forests: Cambalache, Ceiba, El
Yunque, Guajataca, Maricao, Río Abajo, and
Susúa.
Herbaceous or woody vines, that climb by means of the axes of the inflorescences, modified into
tendrils. Leaves alternate, simple, entire; petioles elongate; stipules connate around the stem to form a
tubular structure known as an ocrea. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic, produced in ocreate fascicles
along axillary or terminal racemes or panicles; perianth of 5 free petaloid tepals; stamens 8, the filaments
connate at the base, the anthers dehiscent longitudinally; ovary superior, unilocular, with a single
ovule, the styles 3, free, the stigmas peltate. Fruit an achene with a single seed, covered by the accrescent
tepals. A neotropical genus of 8 species.
Key to the species of Antigonon
1a. Lower surface of leaves tomentose; outer tepals circular, 2.6-3.2 mm long, sagittate at the base,
with the lobes overlapping; petioles < 1 cm long ...................……………..…1. A. guatemalensis
1b. Lower surface of leaves puberulent or glabrous; outer tepals ovate, 5-7 mm long, subcordiform at
the base, the lobes not overlapping; petioles > 1 cm long .............................….2. A. leptopus
1. Antigonon guatemalense Meissn. in DC.,
Prodr. 14: 184. 1856.
Fig. 142. A-F
SYNONYMS: Antigonon macrocarpum Britton & Small
Antigonon grandiflorum (Bertol) B.L. Rob.
Bellísima
Slightly woody vine that climbs by means of
tendrils and attains 5-10 m in length. Stems
puberulent, pentagonal. Leaves alternate, ovate,
broadly ovate, or ovate-triangular, chartaceous,
5-9.5 × 3.2-7.7 cm, the apex obtuse or acute,
mucronate, the base cordiform, the margins
crenulate; upper surface pubescent, dull, with the
venation flat; lower surface tomentose, with
prominent venation; petioles 8-10 mm long,
tomentose, almost cylindrical. Flowers bisexual,
in groups of 4-5 flowers, in axillary racemes or
terminal panicles, the racemes 15-22 cm long,
the axes densely pubescent with septate trichomes,
the distal portion of the axis twisting like a tendril;
pedicels 1.5-2 cm, articulated near the middle,
the basal portion persistent, sometimes twisted
like a tendril. Perianth pink, in two unequal series,
the outer ones circular, 2.6-3.2 cm long, the base
sagittate, with overlapping sinuses, the inner ones
ca. 1.5 cm long, ovate; staminal column ca. 2 mm
long. Achene ellipsoid, ca. 1.2 cm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower during
November.