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

Chamissoa altissima (Jacq.) Kunth in Humb. Bonpl. & Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. (quarto ed.) 2: 197. 1817.

Fig. 1. D, 16. F-K

Basionym: Achyranthes altissima Jacq.

Liana or woody shrub, clambering, 3-15 m in length, with numerous pendulous branches. Stems angular when young and cylindrical when mature, up to 3 cm in diameter, glabrous; cross section of the stem with bands of vascular tissue alternating with very narrow bands of parenchymatous tissue. Leaves alternate; blades 8-14 × 3-7 cm, elliptical, ovate, or elliptic-ovate, chartaceous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base rounded, the margins undulate; upper surface slightly shiny, puberulous; lower surface pale green, dull, with prominent venation; petioles slender, usually reddish, 2-4.5 cm long. Flowers in terminal panicles, 4-16 cm long. Perianth white to greenish, with five ovate tepals, concave, acute, ca. 3 mm long, glabrous; stamens 5; stigma bifid. Capsule ovoid, truncate at the apex, membranaceous, turning from green to white, 3-4 mm long; seeds dark brown, shiny, completely covered by a white arillode.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 3738; 7050; 7730; 7849; 9410; 11872; Axelrod, F. 10982; Heller, A.A. 545; 4521; 6197; Johnston, J.R. 1130; Sargent, F.H. 82; 461; 704; Sintenis, P. 264; 2139; 5892; 6357; Stevenson, J.A. 1130.
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Trichostigma octandrum (L.) H. Walter, Pflanzenr. 4(83): 109. 1909.

Fig. 138. I-M

Basionym: Rivina octandra L.

Clambering shrub or liana, with pendulous branches, attainig 5-10(-30) m in length. Stems cylindrical, 5-15 cm in diameter. Branches glabrous, with numerous lenticels. Leaves alternate, chartaceous, elliptical or oblong, 4-9(13) × 1.7-4(6) cm, the apex acute or acuminate, the base acute or obtuse, sometimes unequal, the margins crenulate; upper surface dark green, dull, glabrous, with the venation reticulate, inconspicuous; lower surface light green, dull, with the midvein prominent, sometimes the secondary veins, the tertiary veins inconspicuous; petioles 0.5-1.5(3) cm long, with a yellowish or pink tinge, sulcate, swollen at the base; stipules absent. Inflorescences of axillary racemes, up to 15 cm long; peduncle glabrous or puberulent; pedicels 4-7 mm long, with a minute green bracteole, filiform, below or above the middle. Sepals 4, white, 3-5 mm long, oblong or elliptical, concave; petals absent; stamens 8-16; stigmas sessile, capitate, with numerous filiform branches. Fruit fleshy, globose or ellipsoid, purple, 5-7 mm long.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from April to October.

Status: Native, very common.

Commentary: In Guilarte and Río Abajo there are several populations of Trichostigma that differ from Trichostigma octandrum in having scabrous leaves with the tertiary and quaternary venation very conspicuous. The recognition of these populations at the specific or subspecific level is not possible because there are no other significant morphological differences.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 628; 4347; 4731; 5354; 5447; 11350; Britton, N.L. 113; 1705; 2241; Cowell, J.F. 758; Heller, A.A. 1165; Sargent, F.H. 205; Shafer, J.A. 2835; Sintenis, P. 921; 1016; 3931; Stevenson, J.A. 1885; 2500.
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Bougainvillea glabra Choisy in Dc., Prodr. 13(2): 437. 1849.

Fig. 129. A-F

Woody vine or shrub, clambering, attainig 15 m in length. Stem cylindrical, attaining 5-6 cm in diameter; cross section of the stem with discrete vascular bundles within the connective tissue. Branches pubescent, puberulent, or glabrous, with straight, axillary spines. Leaves alternate or subopposite, 3-6 × 1.5-3 cm, chartaceous, elliptical, puberulent, the apex acuminate, the base attenuate, slightly asymmetrical, the margins slightly sinuate; lower surface with the midvein prominent; petioles slender, 4-12 mm long. Dichasial cymes compound, on axillary branches or at the end of axillary spines, the axes glabrous or puberulent; bracts ovate, glabrous, cordiform at the base, 2.5-4 cm long, of showy colors, red, deep pink, orange, white, or purple. Perianth tubular-hypocrateriform, 2.5-3 mm long, pubescent, with 8-10 obtuse lobes, cream-colored. Anthocarp fusiform, glabrous, ca. 1.5 cm long.

Phenology: Flowering throughout the year.

Status: Exotic, very common in our gardens.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 11237.
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Hylocereus trigonus (Haw.) Saff., Annual Rep. Board Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1908: 553. 1909.

Fig. 54. A-C

Basionym: Cereus trigonus Haw.

Much branched vine, which climbs by aerial roots and attains 10 m in length. Stems fleshy, 1.4-2 cm wide, lenticellate, triangular, with 3 or 4 prominent, undulate, longitudinal ribs, with a group of spines on each of the protuberances that are found along the margin; spines conical, 4-7 mm long, grayish or brown, usually in groups of 8. Flowers solitary, pendulous, 20-24 cm long, axillary to the group of spines or terminal on the branches; perianth infundibuliform; outer tepals fleshy, green, the basal ones ovate, ca. 2 cm long, the distal ones oblong, 3.5-7.5 cm long, the inner tepals white, turning yellowish when mature. Berries ovoid, pink-purple, 12-14 × 5-7 cm, with tepals of the hypanthium persistent; seeds numerous, minute, black, covered with a white gelatinous matrix.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from July to December.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 2874; 5091; 7042; 11250; Britton, N.L. 1583; 1860; 1931; 2305; Hioram, B. 12; Shafer, J.A. 2834.
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