Revision of Passiflora Subgenus Decaloba ... - Passion Flowers

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on the pollen grains, and a base chromosome number of six. The species of the
supersection are easily recognized by their small, apetalous, usually greenish
flowers with the filaments of the corona mostly in two series. In addition, the
plants commonly lack c-glycosylflavones but possess flavonol 3-0-glycosides.
Several factors enhance the biological significance of Passiflora supersection
Cieca. Of the four pollination syndromes commonly reported for Passiflora,
supersection Cieca exhibits three: melittophily (pollination by bees), sphecophily
(pollination by wasps), and ornithophily (pollination by birds) (Gilbert, 1991;
Koschnitzke & Sazima, 1997; Lindberg, 1998; MacDougal, 1992). The species of
the supersection are also utilized as larval hosts by both primitive and advanced
genera of the subfamily Heliconiinae (Agraulis, Dione, Dryandula, Dryas,
Euptoieta, Heliconius, and Philaethria) (Benson et al., 1975; Spencer, 1988).
Perhaps most importantly, four of the 19 species within this group are listed as
endangered or threatened in the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants
(http://www.unep-cmc.org/species/plants/redlist.htm). One species, P.
clypeophylla Mast., may be extinct and is represented by only a single herbarium
specimen. The status of another species, P. macfadyenii C.D. Adams, is
uncertain, because it has not been found in its native habitat in Jamaica since the
inception of this project (1998). In addition, the morphology of supersection
Cieca is very diverse and has provided numerous phylogenetically informative
characters.
Supersection Cieca contains two problematic species complexes, P. suberosa
and P. coriacea Juss. Ever since Linnaeus first described P. suberosa in his