Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

70
Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
6-20 × 6-16 cm, ovate or broadly ovate,
chartaceous, the venation semi-palmate (with
three main veins), the apex acute or acuminate,
the base cordiform-sagittate, the margins
undulate; upper surface glabrous, dull; lower
surface with prominent venation, glaucous,
puberulent; petioles 5-11 cm long, glabrous;
pseudostipules absent. Flowers solitary,
pendulous; peduncle 12-23 cm long; utricle
asymmetrically obovoid, 6-12 × 2-3.5 cm, the tube
8-13 cm long, curved, broadened toward the apex;
limb peltate, obovate to elliptical, 12-31 cm in
diameter, cream-colored with a cardinal red
reticulum, the apex cordate, the base with an
appendage or tail, 7-150 cm long, the throat
cardinal red. Capsule more or less cylindrical,
with 5 longitudinal ribs, 13-15.5 cm long; seeds
membranaceous, broadly ovate, 1-1.3 cm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower in December,
February, April, May, and August and in fruit in
April.
Status: Exotic, cultivated and escaped from
cultivation, uncommon.
Distribution: In areas of secondary vegetation.
Also in Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Central America,
Colombia, and Ecuador; cultivated throughout the
tropics.
4. Aristolochia oblongata Jacq. subsp.
calceiformis (Urb.) R. Rankin & Acev.-Rodr.,
comb.nov.
Fig. 21. E-J
BASIONYM: Aristolochia calceiformis Urb., Symb. Antill. 1:
300. 1899.
SYNONYMS: Aristolochia bilabiata sensu Pfeifer, non L.
Slightly woody vine, twining, 10-15 m in
length. Stems subcylindrical, attaining 4 cm in
diameter, the bark corky with numerous
longitudinal furrows; cross section of the stem
showing a xylem dissected by multicellular rays.
Branches puberulous, sulcate. Leaves alternate;
blades 5-13 × 2.4-3.6 cm, oblong, oblonglanceolate,
or less frequently elliptical,
chartaceous, venation reticulate, the apex obtuse
or rounded, the base subcordiform or subtruncate,
the margins entire, slightly revolute; upper surface
glabrous, with some scattered resinous dots; lower
surface with prominent venation, tomentulose;
petioles 1-1.5 cm long, puberulous; pseudostipules
reniform, 0.8-1 cm long. Flowers solitary or in
axillary racemes; peduncle ca. 3 cm long; utricle
ellipsoid, brown, ca. 1 cm long, geniculate at the
base, the tube ca. 1.5 cm long, expanding toward
the limb into an infundibuliform structure, subbilabiate,
with two short lobes, of which the upper
lobe is larger and folded, covering the throat after
anthesis, the throat bright yellow, pubescent.
Capsule ellipsoid or subglobose, 2-2.5 cm long;
seeds membranaceous, triangular, ca. 5 mm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower in February,
March, and September and in fruit from March
to September and in December.
Status: Native, uncommon.
Distribution: In moist forests at lower and
middle elevations in the Cordillera Central and
in the northern limestone zone. Also in Cuba and
Hispaniola.
Public forest: Río Abajo.
5. Aristolochia odoratissima L., Sp. Pl. ed. 2,
1362. 1763.
Fig. 24. A-B
SYNONYM: Aristolochia pandurata Jacq.
Woody vine, twining, attaining 5 m in length.
Stems cylindrical, glabrous, smooth. Leaves
alternate; blades 6.5-11 × 3.5-6 cm, lanceolate,
hastate, or less frequently ovate, chartaceous or
coriaceous, the venation palmate, the apex
acuminate, the base deeply cordate, the margins
entire; upper surface dull, glabrous; lower surface
puberulous, the venation not prominent; petioles
1-3.5 cm long; pseudostipules inconspicuous or
ovate, up to 1.5 cm long. Flowers solitary,
yellowish with a cardinal red reticulum; peduncle
ca. 3 cm long; utricle obovoid, ca. 1 × 0.5 cm;
tube slightly curved, 0.7-1.7 cm long, almost
forming a right angle with the utricle; limb 4-6
cm in diameter. Capsule curved, 7-10 cm long,
subcylindrical, with 5 longitudinal ribs, the apex
and base acute; seeds numerous, membranaceous,
triangular, ca. 3 mm long.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout
the year.
Status: Apparently exotic, naturalized on St.
John; uncommon.
Distribution: In areas of secondary vegetation,
in coastal thickets on St. John. Collected on St.
Thomas but possibly from a cultivated individual;
Mexico, Central America, and South America.