Mikania cordifolia
Diagnostic description 2
Mikania cordifolia (L.f.) Willd., Sp. Pl. 3: 1746. 1804.
Basionym: Cacalia cordifolia L.f.
Synonyms: Mikania gonoclada Dc.
Mikania convolvulacea Dc.
Slightly woody vine, twining, 2-5 m in length. Stems pubescent, octagonal, striate. Leaves opposite; blades 7-12 × 3.5-7.4 (9) cm, ovate, slightly aromatic, chartaceous, the apex acute, the base cordiform or subcordiform, the venation with three main veins, the margins serrate, upper surface dull green, puberulous; lower surface glaucous, densely pubescent, with prominent venation; petioles 5-4 cm long, sulcate; pseudostipules divided in lanceolate segments, whitish. Capitula numerous, arranged in axillary corymbiform cymes; subinvolucral bract linear to lanceolate, 4-5 mm long, pilose; phyllaries elliptical or narrowly ovate, 6-8 mm long, green, pubescent; corollas white, infundibuliform, aromatic; anthers brown, connate, exserted. Achenes prismatic, with 5 longitudinal ribs, ca. 3 mm long, grayish, scabrid; pappus of numerous white setae, scabrous, ca. 4.5 mm long.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from November to March.
Status: Native, very common.
Selected Specimens Examined: Abbott 1532; Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 3739; 4109; 4215; 7124; 7809; 9343; Boom, B. 7071; Britton, N.L. 368; 1669; 2349; 8578; Heller, A.A. 211; 4664; 6334; 6379; Liogier, A.H. 10646; Shafer, J.A. 2644; Sintenis, P. 204; 3052; 6194; Stevenson, J.A. 1154.
Distribution 3
Distribution: In pastures or along rivers or roads, at middle and lower elevations. Also on Vieques and the Virgin Islands; throughout the Neotropics.
Public forest: Carite, El Yunque, Guilarte, Maricao, Río Abajo, Toro Negro, Tortuguero, and Vega.
Sources and Credits
- (c) douneika, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6021/6011892574_422d6ce947_o.jpg
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435133
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435697
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- World Flora Online
