Diagnostic description ⁴

Jacquemontia pentanthos (Jacq.) G. Don, Gen. Hist. 4: 283. 1838.

Fig. 74. A-D

Basionym: Convolvulus pentanthos Jacq.

Slightly woody vine, twining, attaining 2 m in length, without latex. Stems cylindrical, slender, sparsely covered with white trifid hairs, glabrous when mature. Leaves alternate; blades simple, 1.8-6 × 1.2-3.7 cm, ovate or lanceolate, chartaceous, sparsely covered with white trifid hairs on both surfaces, the apex obtuse, acute, or mucronate and sometimes retuse, the base cordiform or truncate, the margins entire or sinuate; upper surface dark green; lower surface pale green, with prominent venation; petioles slender, pubescent or glabrous, 1-4 cm long. Flowers in congested dichasial cymes; peduncles longer than the leaves; bracts elliptical, ca. 5 mm long. Calyx green, the sepals broadly ovate or deltoid, 8-10 mm long, pubescent, acuminate at the apex; corolla blue or brilliant blue, with the center white, forming a star of 5 arms, rotate, the limb pentagonal in outline, 2.2-2.5 cm in diameter, the margins reflexed; stamens and stigmas white, exserted. Capsules globose, ca. 5 mm in diameter, brown, with the sepals persistent at the base; seeds obtusely triangular, ca. 4 mm long, brown, glabrous.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Status: Native, rather common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 687; 862; 1037; 2014; 2306; 4024; 4037; 4100; 4102; 4410; 5365; 6974; 7053; 10476; 11069; 11211; 11397; 11509. Britton, E.G. 692; Britton, N.L. 13; 1570; 1965; 2820; 4072; 4823; 5024; 8073; Goll, G.P. 594; 1018; Heller, A.A. 315; 4456; Johnston, J.R. 816; Sargent, F.H. 456; Shafer, J.A. 2612; 2725; Sintenis, P. 31; 3160; Stevenson, J.A. 2455.

Distribution ⁵

Distribution: In thickets and dry forests and on sandy coasts of the littoral zone. Also on Cayo Santiago, Culebra, Desecheo, Mona, Vieques, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; throughout the Neotropics, introduced in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Public forest:Cambalache, Ceiba, Guajataca, Guánica, Maricao, Mona, Río Abajo, and Susúa.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Jayesh Patil, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/31196650@N04/3826269094/
2. (c) Forest & Kim Starr, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/56088.jpg
3. (c) Jenny Evans, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/jevanssccf/5434611284/
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435254
5. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435777

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
• 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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