Diagnostic description ³

Pentalinon luteum (L.) Hansen & Wunderlin, Taxon 35: 167. 1986.

Fig. 19. G-J

Basionym: Vinca lutea L.

Synonym: Urechites lutea (L.) Britton

Babeiro amarillo, Wild allamanda

Woody vine, twining, much branched from the base, up to 5 m in length, with abundant milky latex. Stems smooth, cylindrical, pubescent when young, lenticellate; bark thin, copper-colored. Leaves opposite; blades 3-7 × 1.5-3.7 cm, elliptical or obovate, coriaceous, glabrous, the apex rounded and mucronate, the base rounded to obtuse, the margins entire, revolute; upper surface shiny with the midvein yellowish; lower surface dull, with a prominent midvein, puberulous; petioles ca. 5 mm long, cylindrical, pubescent. Flowers in axillary cymes, few-flowered; pedicels cylindrical, pubescent, 1.5-2 cm long. Calyx light green, pubescent, of five lanceolate sepals, ca. 12 mm long; corolla yellow, infundibuliform, ca. 3 cm long, with cardinal red lines inside, the limb 3 cm in diameter, with 5 rounded lobes. Follicles woody, linear, divaricate; seeds numerous, with long, silky hairs.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 368; 685; 686; 1835; 2833; 4292; 11298; Johnston, J.R. 821; Sargent, F.H. 723; Shafer, J.A. 2737; Sintenis, P. 1891; Stevenson, J.A. 6583.

Distribution ⁴

Distribution: Coastal forests and thickets. Also on Cayo Icacos, Culebra, Mona, Vieques, Anegada, Guana Island, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; the Antilles and the United States (Florida).

Public forest: Guánica, Mona, Piñones, and Río Abajo.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Rafael, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6073/6129668216_cccee681ab.jpg
2. (c) Dondrodger, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Identify_the_flower.jpg
3. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435083
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435663

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

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