Mikania fragilis
Diagnostic description 2
Mikania fragilis Urb., Symb. Antill. 1: 464. 1899.
Synonyms: Mikania fragilis Urb. var. leptodon Urb.
Mikania rotunda sensu A. Stahl, non Griseb.
Herbaceous vine, twining, 6-8 m in length. Stems angular, with numerous lateral branches, pubescent when young, grayish with numerous lenticels when mature, the inner bark reddish, aromatic. Leaves opposite; blade 5-11 × 4-10 cm, broadly ovate, fragile, fleshy, slightly aromatic, not glandular, the apex acute, obtuse, or rounded, the base cordiform, the margins serrate, revolute; upper surface dark green, shiny, with the reticulate venation sunken, scabrid; lower surface pale green, dull, sometimes with some resinous dots, venation prominent; petioles thick, 2-4 cm long, pubescent, sulcate; pseudostipules broadly ovate, reflexed, 8-10 mm wide. Capitula few, pedunculate, in axillary corymbiform cymes; bracts of the involucre lanceolate to narrowly ovate, ca. 12 mm long, green to whitish; corollas white or with a reddish or greenish tinge, infundibuliform; anthers violet, connate, exserted. Achenes cuneiform, ca. 3.5 mm long, with 5 longitudinal ribs, glabrous; pappus of numerous bristles, 7-8 mm long.
Phenology: Flowering from September to April.
Status: Endemic to Puerto Rico, rather common.
Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 3057; 3759; 6965; 7102; Boom, B. 6928; 7109; 7941; Sintenis, P. 4127; Wagner 1749; Woodbury, R.O. s.n.
Distribution 3
Distribution: In forests of the cordilleras, at middle and upper elevations.
Public forest: Carite, El Yunque, Guilarte, Maricao, and Toro Negro.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10350768
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435134
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435698
