Vines and Climbing plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Protasparagus setaceus (Kunth) Oberm., S. Afr. J. Bot. 2: 244. 1983.

Fig. 172. A-E

Basionym: Asparagopsis setacea Kunth

Synonyms: Asparagus setaceus (Kunth) Jessop

Asparagus plumosus Baker

Semiwoody vine, twining, attainig 2-3 m in length. Stems cylindrical, green, spiny at the base. Phylloclades in dense whorls, needle-like, 3.5-6.5 mm long. Flowers solitary, pendulous; pedicels.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7067; 9349.
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Vanilla pompona Schiede, Linnaea 4: 573. 1829.

Fig. 180. G-H

Non-woody vine, glabrous, scarcely branched, that climbs by means of aerial roots and attains 5 m in length. Stems cylindrical, 12-15 mm in diameter, producing watery and caustic latex when wounded; internodes up to 20 cm long; nodes swollen, with an annular scar, producing 1 adventitious root per node; the lateral branches pendulous. Leaves persistent, oblong-ovate or oblong-elliptical, fleshy, rigid, flat, almost sessile, 20-30 × 6-10 cm, the apex acute or obtuse, the base obtuse; both surfaces dull, with the parallel venation prominent; petioles ca. 1.5 cm long. Inflorescence an axillary raceme, with many flowers; bracts fleshy, broadly ovate, 1.2-2.5 cm long. Sepals greenish yellow or yellowish creamcolored, free, expanded, oblanceolate, obtuse, or rounded, ca. 9 × 1-2 cm. Petals similar, but dorsally keeled; lip yellow-orange, entire, unguiculate, adnate along the column; column slender, semicylindrical, ca. 7 cm long, barbate in the area near the stigma. Fruits pendulous, fusiform, ca. 18 × 2.5 cm.

Phenology:Flowering from March to May, but not producing fruits in Puerto Rico because its natural pollinators are not found on the island.

Status: Exotic, persistent, uncommon.
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Vanilla planifolia Jackson in Andrews, Bot. Repos. 8: t. 538. 1808.

Fig. 179. F-G

Non-woody vine, glabrous, scarcely branched, that climbs by means of aerial roots and attains 7-10 m in length. Stems cylindrical, 5-10 mm in diameter, producing watery and caustic latex when wounded; internodes up to 12 cm long; nodes slightly swollen, producing a single adventitious root per node; the lateral branches pendulous. Leaves persistent, oblong, elliptical, or ovate, fleshy, rigid, 14-25 × 4.5-8 cm, the apex acute or acuminate, the margins entire, slightly revolute; upper surface dull; lower surface dull; petioles 1-1.5 cm long, thick. Inflorescence a pendulous axillary raceme, few-flowered; peduncle flexuous; bracts fleshy, broadly ovate, 5-10 mm long. Sepals yellowish green, thick, free, expanded, 3.5-5.5 × 1.3 cm, elliptic-oblanceolate. Petals similar, but dorsally keeled and smaller; lip greenish yellow, reflexed at the apex, with a retuse apical lobe, the basal portion unguiculate, adnate to the column; column arcuate, 3-3.5 cm long. Fruits black when ripe, pendulous, cylindrical, fragrant, up to 25 cm long.

Phenology:Flowering from February to April, but rarely producing fruits, because its natural pollinators are not found in Puerto Rico.

Status: Exotic, naturalized by asexual reproduction.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 4058; 7077; 9323.
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Vanilla mexicana Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8, no. 1. 1768.

Fig. 179. A-C

Synonyms: Vanilla vanilla (L.) Britton, nom. inadmis.

Vanilla inodora Schiede

Non-woody vine, glabrous, scarcely branched, that climbs by means of aerial roots and attains 5 m or more in length. Stems cylindrical, 2-3(5) mm in diameter, producing watery and caustic latex when wounded; internodes 7.5-20 cm long; nodes swollen, with an annular scar, producing a single adventitious root per node; the lateral branches pendulous. Leaves persistent, elliptical or broadly ovate, fleshy-coriaceous, 13-25 × 6.5-12.5 cm, the apex acuminate, the margins entire, flat; both surfaces dull, glabrous, with prominent venation; petioles thick, 0.5-1 cm long. Inflorescence an axillary raceme, few-flowered; bracts fleshy, broadly ovate, 2.5 cm long. Sepals green, thick, rigid, free, expanded, up to 6.5 × 2 cm, oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptical. Petals similar, but dorsally keeled and smaller; lip trilobate, white with a yellow crest, the basal portion adnate along 5 mm of the column; column white, slender, 2-2.5 cm long. Fruits pendulous, cylindrical, up to 27 cm long.

Phenology: Flowering from March to May, producing fruits in Puerto Rico only by artificial pollination.

Status: Exotic, cultivated and escaped, rare.

Selected Specimens Examined: Axelrod, F. 5639; Eggers, B. 1322.
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Vanilla dilloniana Correll, Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 15: 331. 1946.

Fig. 179. A-C

Non-woody vine, glabrous, scarcely branched, that climbs by means of aerial roots and attains 5-7 m in length. Stems cylindrical, 4-8 mm in diameter, producing abundant watery and caustic latex when wounded; internodes up to 20 cm long; nodes slightly swollen, producing 1 or 2 grayish roots; the lateral branches pendulous. Leaves persistent, lanceolate-triangular, fleshy, sessile, 3-3.5 × 1-1.4 cm, the apex reflexed, the margins involute; upper surface dull; lower surface dull. Inflorescence a pendulous axillary raceme, fewflowered; bracts fleshy, broadly ovate, 5-7 mm long. Sepals light green, free, expanded, 4.8-5.5 × 0.8-1.2 cm, the dorsal sepal concave, narrowly oblong-elliptical, the lateral ones similar but falcate, 4.5-5 × 0.9-13 cm. Petals light green, oblong-oblanceolate, keeled, 4.1-5 × 1.1-1.4 cm; lip crenulate, obscurely trilobate, purple-brown, pale toward the margins and the throat, the basal portion adnate to the lower half of the column; column arcuate, slender, 3.2 cm long. Fruits pendulous, fusiform-clavate, ca. 16 cm long and 12 mm in diameter, changing from green to yellow-orange when ripe, partially dehiscent at the apex; seeds minute, numerous, black, in a white gelatinous matrix.

Phenology:Flowering from March to May and fruiting from September to January.

Status: Native, locally common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7058; 7182.
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Vanilla barbellata Reichenb. f. , Flora 48: 274. 1865.

Fig. 178. A-E

Non-woody vine, glabrous, scarcely branched, that climbs by means of aerial roots and attains 5-7 m in length. Stems cylindrical, 3-9 mm in diameter, producing abundant watery and caustic latex when wounded; internodes 8-13 cm long; nodes swollen, with an annular scar, producing 1 or 2 grayish roots; the lateral branches pendulous. Leaves early deciduous, sessile, linear-lanceolate, chartaceous, 4-5 × 0.8 cm, the apex acute, the margins entire, not revolute; upper surface dull; lower surface dull. Inflorescence a pendulous axillary raceme with few or many flowers; bracts fleshy, broadly ovate, 4-12 mm long. Sepals green, open, free, oblong to oblanceolate, 3-4 × 0.9-1.2 cm. Petals similar to the sepals but slightly falcate, dorsally keeled and somewhat broader (1-1.3 cm); lip trilobate, greenish on the outer surface, red on the inner surface in the center, but turning white toward the margins, the center with a tuft of barbate and rigid hairs, the basal portion adnate to the column; column straight, almost cylindrical, 2.3-3.3 cm long. Fruits pendulous, fusiform or cylindrical, slightly recurved, changing from green to yellow-orange when ripe, 7-9 cm long, 9-13 mm in diameter.

Phenology: Flowering from April to June(Ackerman, 1995), collected in fruit in January.

Status: Native, locally common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 4142; 10953; 11389.
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