Piptocarpha tetrantha
Diagnostic description 3
Piptocarpha tetrantha Urb., Symb. Antill. 1: 457. 1899.
Liana or clambering shrub, 10 m or more in length. Stems pendulous, flexible, with numerous white scales when young, slightly compressed, striate and lenticellate when mature, attaining 2.5 cm in diameter. Leaves alternate, distichous; blades 6-12 × 2-5 cm, oblong, oblanceolate, or elliptical, coriaceous, the apex acute or obtuse, the base unequal, obtuse-acute, the margins smooth or denticulate; upper surface light green, slightly shiny, with reticulate venation, covered with small scales; lower surface completely covered with white scales, venation prominent; petioles 1-1.6 cm long, sulcate, whitish. Capitula in cymes, forming a compound axillary or terminal racemiform inflorescence; involucre tubular, 7-8 mm long; phyllaries in 6 series, green, pilose at the apex and ciliate at the margins, the series gradually increasing in size toward the interior. Corolla white, infundibuliform, 5-6 mm long. Achenes cuneiform, cream-colored, 4-4.5 mm long; pappus of numerous cream-colored bristles, ca. 5.8 mm long.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting probably throughout the year, but with more intensity from January to March.
Status: Endemic to Puerto Rico, common.
Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 2974; 7095; 9449; Boom, B. 6899; 7104; 10077; Breckon, G. 4428; Britton, N.L. 2030; 5285; Liogier, A.H. 10024; Shafer, J.A. 3437; Sintenis, P. 1637; 5339.
Distribution 4
Distribution: In forests and on forest margins along the Cordillera Central and the Sierra de Luquillo.
Public forest: Carite, Guilarte, El Yunque, Maricao, and Toro Negro.
Sources and Credits
- (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=10350796
- (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=10350777
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435141
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435704
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
