Common Vines & Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Pentalinon luteum (L.) Hansen & Wunderlin, Taxon 35: 167. 1986.

Fig. 19. G-J

Basionym: Vinca lutea L.

Synonym: Urechites lutea (L.) Britton

Babeiro amarillo, Wild allamanda

Woody vine, twining, much branched from the base, up to 5 m in length, with abundant milky latex. Stems smooth, cylindrical, pubescent when young, lenticellate; bark thin, copper-colored. Leaves opposite; blades 3-7 × 1.5-3.7 cm, elliptical or obovate, coriaceous, glabrous, the apex rounded and mucronate, the base rounded to obtuse, the margins entire, revolute; upper surface shiny with the midvein yellowish; lower surface dull, with a prominent midvein, puberulous; petioles ca. 5 mm long, cylindrical, pubescent. Flowers in axillary cymes, few-flowered; pedicels cylindrical, pubescent, 1.5-2 cm long. Calyx light green, pubescent, of five lanceolate sepals, ca. 12 mm long; corolla yellow, infundibuliform, ca. 3 cm long, with cardinal red lines inside, the limb 3 cm in diameter, with 5 rounded lobes. Follicles woody, linear, divaricate; seeds numerous, with long, silky hairs.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 368; 685; 686; 1835; 2833; 4292; 11298; Johnston, J.R. 821; Sargent, F.H. 723; Shafer, J.A. 2737; Sintenis, P. 1891; Stevenson, J.A. 6583.
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Matelea maritima (Jacq.) Woodson, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 28: 222. 1941.

Fig. 29. A-D

Basionym: Asclepias maritima Jacq.

Synonym: Ibatia maritima (Jacq.) Decne.

Slightly woody vine, twining, 5-7 m in length, with abundant milky latex. Stems densely pubescent and sulcate when young, whitish and corky when mature, 4 mm or more in diameter. Leaves opposite; blades 4-10.5 × 3-7.5 cm, ovate, chartaceous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base cordiform, the margins entire; upper surface dull, pubescent, with 2 (3-7) acicular glands in the area adjacent to the petiole; lower surface pale, densely pubescent, the venation yellowish; petioles cylindrical, densely pubescent, 2-7 cm long. Flowers few, in small axillary cymes. Calyx green, rotate, ca. 2 mm in diameter, the sepals ovate or lanceolate, pubescent; corolla rotate, greenish, 4-6 mm in diameter, the petals ovate, not imbricate; corona yellowish green, with short and rounded lobes. Follicles ovoid-fusiform, green, 5-8 × 3.5-4.5 cm, pubescent, verrocose; seeds numerous, brown, with long, white, silky hairs.

Phenology: Flowering from October to November and fruiting from December to March.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 652; 903; 1034; 2737; 4076; 4674; Britton, N.L. 1641; 1932; Goll, G.P. 750; Proctor, G.R. 46582; Shafer, J.A. 2657; Sintenis, P. 2174; 3208.
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Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc., Rep. Missouri Bot. Gard. 4: 94. 1893.

Fig. 146. A-H

Basionym: Lonicera alba L

Synonyms: Chiococca racemosa L.

Chiococca parvifolia Griseb.

Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc. var. parvifolia (Griseb.) Urb.

Chiococca alba (L.) Hitchc. ssp. parvifolia (Griseb.) Steyerm.

Woody vine or shrub, twining, attainig 3-10 m in length. Stems sulcate, with numerous opposite lateral branches; cross section of the mature stem with several cortical vascular bundles. Leaves opposite, coriaceous, elliptical, lanceolate, ovate, or oblong, 3-8 × 1-3.5 cm, the apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate, the base obtuse or acute, the margins entire, revolute; upper surface dark green, dull; lower surface light green, dull, with the midvein prominent; petioles 4-7 mm long, glabrous or puberulent; stipules ca. 2 mm long, acicular. Flowers bisexual or pistillate, in axillary racemes, 2-5 cm long; pedicels 3.5-5 mm long. Hypanthium green, glabrous, laterally flattened, ca. 2 mm long, crowned by a crateriform calyx, 1-1.2 mm long, the sepals triangular, ca. 0.5 mm long; corolla infundibuliform, pentagonal, intense yellow, usually with reddish lines on the angles (purple in the floral buds), the tube 4.5-6 mm long, the lobes reflexed, 1.5-3 mm long; stamens slightly exserted, the filaments unequal, pilose, connate at the base into a short tube; style bilobate, exserted in the pistillate flowers. Fruit a circular drupe, laterally flattened, 5-7 mm long, fleshy, white when ripe.

Phenology: Flowering throughout the year and fruiting from June to March.

Status: Native, very common.

Commentary: There is too much variation in the characters that have been utilized to distinguish Chiococca alba from C. parvifolia, so that it is not possible to distinguish two species with certainty. For this reason, I consider C. alba in a broader sense, including C. parvifolia. On the other hand, in Puerto Rico there is another species of Chiococca that I consider to be in accordance with the original description of C. micrantha Johnst. This species is not included in this work, since it is of shrubby habit.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 162; 708; 1914; 2199; 2432; 2592; 3129; 3821; 5077; 5173; 7020; 7033; 7075; 7194; 7209; 9491; 10500; 11338; Axelrod, F. 4754; Britton, N.L. 1063; Fosberg, F.R. 44165; 51352; Holdridge, L. 232; Liogier, A.H. 9895; Sargent, F.H. 702; Shafer, J.A. 2945; 3792; Sintenis, P. 1; 278; 774; 1948; 2393; 2483; 3421; 6199; 6550; Stevenson, J.A. 269; 1798; Underwood, L.M. 157; 907; Webster, G.L. 8869.
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