Diagnostic description ²

Mikania odoratissima Urb., Symb. Antill. 1: 464. 1899.

Fig. 37. A-C

Slightly woody vine, twining, 3-5 m in length. Stems slender, striate, puberulous, aromatic. Leaves opposite; blades 4-10 × 3-8.5 cm, chartaceous, aromatic, ovate, triangular, or trilobed, glabrous or puberulous, 3-nerved, the apex acute or acuminate, the base truncate to cordiform, the margins dentate; upper surface dark green, shiny, with the venation flat or slightly sunken; lower surface light green, dull, venation prominent; petioles 1.5-3.5 cm long, sulcate, puberulous; pseudostipules forming a ring of lanceolate segments, pubescent, deciduous. Capitula in groups of 3, pedunculate to subsessile, arranged in terminal corymbiform cymes; subinvolucral bract obovate to oblong, 3-4 mm long; phyllaries 7-9 mm long, oblong-elliptical, green, puberulous; corollas white or pale green, infundibuliform, ca. 6.5 mm long. Achenes 4-4.5 mm long, prismatic, scabrid, cream-colored; pappus of numerous scabrous bristles, creamcolored or light brown, 6.5-7 mm long.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from November to March.

Status: Endemic to Puerto Rico, uncommon.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7056; 7201; 7790; 9370; 9371; 10671; 11450; 11754; Britton, N.L. 3899; 9786; Proctor, G.R. 44339; Sargent, F.H. 8115.

Distribution ³

Distribution: In moist forests, at middle and upper elevations, along the Cordillera Central.

Public forest: Maricao and Río Abajo.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) MBG, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://images.mobot.org/tropicosthumbnails/Tropicos/027/MO-714423.jpg
2. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435136
3. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435700

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