Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

360
Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
single ovule, the style filiform, the stigma bilobate or capitate. Fruit indehiscent or schizocarpous, dry.
A genus of approximately 50 species, the majority of tropical America, some species of Africa.
1. Diodia sarmentosa Sw., Prodr. 30. 1788.
Fig. 146. I-L
Scandent or decumbent herb, attainig 3-5 m
in length. Stems quadrangular, hispidulous or
puberulent, retrorsely pubescent on the angles.
Leaves opposite, membranaceous, elliptical or
oblong-lanceolate, 2.5-7.3 × 0.9-2.8 cm, the apex
acute or acuminate, the base attenuate, the
margins entire, revolute; upper surface dull,
scabrous, with the venation sunken; lower surface
scabrous, puberulent, with prominent venation;
petioles < 1 mm long; stipules connate at the base,
with numerous acicular projections up to 5 mm
long. Flowers bisexual, in axillary fascicles,
sessile. Hypanthium green, glabrous, obovoid, ca.
2.5 mm long, crowned by 4 long-triangular lobes,
ca. 1.5 mm long, pubescent; corolla tubular, ca.
3. HILLIA
Epiphytic shrubs, scandent, with long pendulous branches. Leaves opposite, thick-coriaceous,
entire, petiolate; stipules intrapetiolar, membranaceous, deciduous. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic,
solitary, subsessile, terminal. Calyx with 2-9 foliaceous or truncate lobes; corolla hypocrateriform, the
tube elongate, narrow, with 3-7 expanded lobes; stamens 4-7; ovary inferior, of two carpels, each
carpel with numerous ovules, the style filiform. Fruit an elongate capsule, narrow, oblong or cylindrical,
septicidal; seeds numerous, with an appendage of hairs on the apical portion. A neotropical genus of 24
species.
1. Hillia parasitica Jacq., Enum. Pl. Carib. 18.
1760.
Fig. 146. M-P
SYNONYM: Hillia longiflora Sw.
Hilia, Flor de sierra, Tibey trepador
Clambering or epiphytic shrub, climbing by
means of adventitious roots, attainig 2-3 m in
length. Stems cylindrical, brown, with pendulous
lateral branches. Leaves opposite, coriaceous,
glabrous, 3.5-12 × 1.7-6.5 cm, elliptical or
oblanceolate, the apex abruptly acuminate,
revolute, the base acute, the margins entire,
revolute; upper surface dark green, shiny, with
the midvein yellowish; lower surface pale green,
with the midvein slightly prominent; petioles
cylindrical, 10-20 mm long; stipules oblong, 1-
5.5 cm long, membranaceous, deciduous. Flowers
2.5 mm long, white, the lobes 5, ca. 0.5 mm long;
stamens included. Fruit schizocarpous, opening
in two indehiscent longitudinal halves, each
containing one seed inside. Seeds dark brown,
oblong, slightly flattened on one side, ca. 3 mm
long.
Phenology: Flowering from July to April and
fruiting from September to April.
Status: Native, locally common.
Distribution: In thickets and pastures and on
forest edges and roadsides, in moist areas at lower
and middle elevations. Reported for St. Thomas
(Britton, 1925). Also in the Antilles, Mexico,
Central America, northern South America, and
introduced in the tropics of the Old World.
Public Forests: Carite, El Yunque, Maricao,
Río Abajo, Susúa, and Tortuguero.
solitary, terminal on lateral branches, subtended
by a pair of oblong bracts, 15-18 mm long. Calyx
tubular, 3-5 mm long, green; corolla white, the
tube narrow, 6-10 cm long, the limb with 4-7
slender lobes, 2-4 cm long, spreading, reflexed at
the apex. Capsule cylindrical, 5-12 cm long,
laterally compressed. Seeds numerous, elliptical,
ca. 1 mm long, with a tuft of silky fibers, ca. 2 cm
long, in the apical portion.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting almost
throughout the year.
Status: Native, locally common.
Distribution: In moist upper regions along the
Cordillera Central and in the Sierra de Luquillo.
Also throughout the Antilles and in tropical South
America.
Public Forests: Carite, El Yunque, Guilarte,
Maricao, and Toro Negro.