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

Hippocratea volubilis L., Sp. Pl. 1191. 1753.

Fig. 58. A-H

Synonym: Hippocratea ovata Lam.

Woody vine, climbing, which supports itself on other plants by twining lateral branches and attains 10-15 m in length. Stems green, quadrangular, becoming grayish and cylindrical when mature; branches opposite, twining, developing before the leaves. Leaves opposite; blades 4-17 × 2-8 cm, elliptical or oblong, coriaceous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base obtuse or rounded, sometimes unequal, the margins crenulate or slightly serrate; upper surface shiny, glabrous, with the veins slightly sunken; lower surface pale green, dull, glabrous, with the venation slightly prominent; petioles 3-7 mm long; stipules absent. Flowers numerous, in axillary corymbs. Calyx yellowish green, of 5 rounded sepals, ca. 1 mm long; corolla of 5 yellowish or whitish petals, free, oblanceolate, 2.5-3 mm long, pubescent on the distal portion; stamens 3, the filaments connate into a conical disc, which almost totally surrounds the ovary; ovary superior, tricarpellate, the style one, with a punctiform stigma. Mericarps 3, divergent, flattened, conspicuously veined, 4-8 cm long; seeds few, winged, ca. 4 cm long, the seed-bearing portion elliptical, the wing oblong.

Phenology: Flowering throughout the year and fruiting from October to January.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 248; 569; 2999; 6175; 6186; 7130; Axelrod, F. 4630; Britton, N.L. 1440; 1599; 1917; 4345; 5812; Eggers, B. 1160; Heller, A.A. 266; 4424; Liogier, A.H. 10265; 30929; Pfeifer 2934; Shafer, J.A. 2876; 2899; 2910; 3247; Sintenis, P. 795; 1854; 5164; 6392; Stevenson, J.A. 396; 2692; Underwood, L.M. 643.
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