Stegnosperma cubense
Diagnostic description 5
Stegnosperma cubense A. Rich. in Sagra, Hist. Nat. Cub. 10: 309. 1845.
Erect, clambering, or creeping shrub, with numerous lateral branches, attainig 1.5-5 m in length. Stems cylindrical, glabrous, dark gray, with minute lenticels. Leaves alternate, coriaceous or chartaceous, elliptical, 1.2-6 × 0.9-2.7 cm, the apex obtuse or less frequently acute or rounded, the base obtuse, the margins crenulate; upper surface dark green, dull, with inconspicuous venation; lower surface light green, dull, with the midvein prominent; petioles 4-10 mm long; stipules absent. Flowers fragrant, in racemes at the end of short axillary branches, up to 7 cm long; peduncle glabrous; pedicels 2-3 mm long. Sepals 5, white, ca. 2.5 mm long, elliptical, more or less concave; petals 5, white, elliptical, 2.5-3 mm long; stamens 10, the filaments connate at the base; ovary superior, with 3-5 carpels, stigmas 3-5, sessile, elongate. Fruit a reddish capsule, ovoid, 4-5.5 mm long, opening by 3-4 woody valves. Seeds ellipsoid, black, shiny, ca. 4 mm long, covered by a white to pink aril.
Phenology: Collected in flower from June to September and from November to January and in fruit from January to March and from August to September.
Status: Probably exotic, cultivated, probably naturalized.
Selected Specimens Examined: Britton, N.L. 9628.
Distribution 6
Distribution: Known from a single collection made by Britton and Horne (9628) in 1931 in Barrio Asomante near Aibonito. Also in Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and from Mexico to Nicaragua.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Dick Culbert, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/9367400218_4999c93e68_o.jpg
- (c) Dick Culbert, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2846/9364622833_d1ec0f13fa_o.jpg
- (c) Dick Culbert, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7290/9364619173_3bfb3c610c_o.jpg
- (c) Biol-pereyra, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Stegnosperma_Cubense.JPG
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435477
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435923
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
- World Flora Online
