Diagnostic description ²

Pristimera caribaea (Urb.) A. C. Sm., Brittonia 3: 378. 1940.

Fig. 59. A-F

Basionym: Hippocratea caribaea Urb.

Synonym: Hippocratea domingensis Urb. & Ekman

Woody vine, climbing, which supports itself on other plants by twining lateral branches and attains 10 m or more in length. Stems grayish, dark brown and lenticellate when mature. Leaves opposite; blades 6-11 × 2-6 cm, elliptical or ovateelliptical, coriaceous, glabrous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base acute to obtuse, the margins entire, denticulate or crenulate, the veins prominent on both surfaces. Flowers numerous, in dichasial cymes, dichotomous, axillary, 1.5-4 cm long; pedicels ca. 1 mm long. Calyx greenish yellow, of 5 triangular or broadly ovate sepals, 0.5-0.8 mm long, erose or ciliate-glandular at the margin; petals 5, elliptical or oblong, greenish yellow, 1.5-2.6 mm long; disc annular, 0.8-1.2 mm wide; stamens ca. 1 mm long; ovary glabrous, conical. Mericarps 3, compressed, elliptical, 3.5-5 cm long; seeds usually 4 per locule, ca. 1.5 cm long, winged.

Phenology: Collected in flower from November to January.

Status: Native, locally common.

Commentary: Hippocratea, Pristimera, and various genera have been considered as belonging to the Family Hippocrateaceae. Nevertheless, recent taxonomic evidence suggests that the Hippocrateaceae is an artificial group not distinguishable from the Celastraceae. For this reason, these have been added to the Celastraceae.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7229; 7236; 7722; 7803; 10617; Sargent, F.H. 16.

Distribution ³

Distribution: Of wide distribution in Puerto Rico, in forests in the zone of mogotes, the Cordillera Central, Sierra Bermeja, and Cerro de La Pandura. Also in Hispaniola, the Lesser Antilles, and Guyana.

Public forest: Guajataca, Maricao, and Río Abajo.

Sources and Credits

1. (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=10351563
2. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435206
3. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435741

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