Paullinia plumieri
Diagnostic description 1
Paullinia plumieri Triana & Planchon, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. Sér. 4: 18. 360. 1862.
Woody vine that climbs by means of tendrils and attains 3-7 m in length. Stems cylindrical, tomentose or tomentulose, up to 0.5 cm in diameter; cross section simple (with a single vascular cylinder). Leaves alternate, biternate; leaflets chartaceous, the margins serrate, revolute; upper surface glabrous, puberulent on the midvein; lower surface with prominent venation and puberulent, with a tuft of hairs in the axils of the secondary veins, the tertiary venation dark, in the form of lines, sometimes with glandular papillae; terminal leaflets 4-9 × 2-3 cm, lanceolate or ovate, the apex obtuse or acuminate, the acumen obtuse, the base long-attenuate; lateral leaflets 2.5-5 × 1.2-2.2 cm, oblong, the apex obtuse or acute, the base obtuse or rounded; rachis narrowly winged, 1-3.2 cm long; petioles not winged, 1-5.5 cm long; stipules triangular, 1-2 mm long; tendrils in pairs, spirally twisted, at the end of short axillary axes, from which an inflorescence usually develops. Inflorescences of axillary thyrses, with numerous pedicellate flowers, zygomorphic, in lateral cincinni; axes tomentose. Calyx densely tomentose, of 4 sepals, 2.5-3.5 mm long; petals white, obovate, ca. 3.5 mm long; petaliferous appendages slightly shorter than the petals, fleshy and yellow at the apex; ovary tomentose. Capsule three-winged, elliptical or obovate in outline, red, pubescent, 1.7-2 cm long. Seeds one per locule, black, elliptic-trigonal, ca. 6 mm long, with a white and emarginate aril at the base.
Phenology: Collected in flower and fruit from February to April.
Status: Apparently native, although uncommon.
Selected Specimens Examined: Shafer 1158.
Distribution 2
Distribution: Known from one side of Sage Mountain on Tortola. Also on some of the Lesser Antilles.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435524
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435950
