Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 403
1. Vitis tiliifolia Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg. 5:
320. 1819.
Fig. 164. G-J
SYNONYM: Vitis caribaea DC.
Bejuco de agua
Liana that climbs by means of tendrils and
attains 10-35 m in length. Stems cylindrical,
woody, producing abundant potable water when
cut and attaining 8 cm in diameter; bark dark
brown, rough. Leaves simple, broadly ovate or
trilobate, 6.5-14 × 6.5-12.5 cm, chartaceous, the
apex acute to short-acuminate, the base cordiform
to almost truncate, the margins serrate; upper
surface puberulent; lower surface tomentose;
petioles 2.5-8 cm long; stipules caducous.
Inflorescences of pendulous axillary panicles, 9-
17 cm long. Calyx green, discoid, the sepals ca. 2
mm long. Petals 1.5-2.2 mm long, greenish
yellow, oblong-obovate, persistent; disc ca. 0.2
mm high. Berries globose, 5-10 mm in diameter,
juicy, violet when ripe. Seeds 1-2, circular, ca. 4
mm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower during March
and April and in fruit in September.
Status: Native, rather common.
Distribution: In moist forested areas, at middle
elevations. Also on St. Croix, St. John, and St.
Thomas; throughout the Antilles and from Mexico
to northern South America.
Public Forests: El Yunque, Guajataca, and Río
Abajo.
Doubtful Genus:
Ampelopsis arborea (L.) Koehne was treated
by Liogier (1994) as present in Puerto Rico, based
on Howard (1989), who included Puerto Rico in
the distribution of the species. This report has not
been confirmed, and it seems that, if it is found
in our gardens, it is not very common; therefore,
it is not included in the present work.
Reference: Lombardi, J.A., 2000. Vitaceae. Gêneros Ampelocissus, Ampelopsis e Cissus. Flora
Neotropica Mon. 80: 1-250.
MONOCOTYLEDONS
Key to the families
1a. Plants climbing by means of adventitious aerial roots………………………………………….2
1b. Plants twining, clambering, or climbing by means of tendrils……………………………...…..3
2a. Flowers minute, < 3 mm long, produced in spadices, subtended by a spathe (foliaceous bract)
……………………………………………..………….…..…………………………..... Araceae
2b. Flowers showy, > 5 cm wide, solitary or in racemes……………...............….…... Orchidaceae
3a. Plants like a fern, with verticillate phylloclades (needle-like) ..……...……….… Asparagaceae
3b. Plants not like a fern, with true leaves whose blade is not needle-like……………..…………..4
4a. Leaves petiolate (not forming a leaf sheath or this not enclosing the stem); blades ovate, rounded to
cordiform at the base, with 5-7 parallel-arcuate main veins that are borne from the base (or nearly
so).............................................................................................................................5
4b. Leaves not petiolate, with a leaf sheath that encloses the stem; blades oblong, lanceolate, or rarely
ovate, not cordiform at the base, with a single main vein…………………….………….6
5a. Plants twining, lacking tendrils; fruits capsular or samaroid ..……………...….. Dioscoreaceae
5b. Plants climbing by means of a pair of tendrils that are borne from the base of the petiole; fruits
fleshy, almost globose………………………………….…………………..……… Smilacaceae