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

Thunbergia alata Bojer ex Sims, Bot. Mag. 52, t. 2591. 1825.

Fig. 14. G-L

Herbaceous vine, creeping or climbing, twining, 2-3 m in length. Stems cylindrical, slender (ca. 2 mm), puberulous. Leaves opposite; blades 4.5-10.5 × 3.2-6 cm, ovate, lobed, chartaceous, the apex acute, the base subcordiform; upper surface dark green, dull, pubescent; lower surface pale green, dull, with prominent venation; petioles 4-8 cm long, winged, pubescent. Flowers axillary, solitary; pedicels pubescent, 4-5 cm long; bracts green, ovate, pubescent, 1.5 cm long, covering the calyx and the corolla tube. Calyx yellowish green, with 12 filiform lobes, ca. 4 mm long; corolla orange, pale yellow, or less frequently whitish, infundibuliform, with 5 lobes, the tube ca. 2.5 cm long, narrow at the base, dark violet inside, the lobes ca. 2.5 cm long with the apex truncate, the limb ca. 5 cm in diameter; stamens with glandular hairs on the basal portion. Capsules ca. 4 mm long, depressed-globose to 4-lobed at the base, the upper half in the form of a beak, dehiscent by two valves; seeds 2 or 4, 1.2-1.5 mm long, semicircular, reticulate.

Phenology: Flowering sporadically throughout the year.

Status: Exotic, very common, naturalized in Puerto Rico.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 3050; 7002; 7135; Boom, B. 9895; Eggers, B. 760; Fisher, M.J. 21; 22; 23; Goll, G.P. 71; 152; Heller, A.A. 624; 6312; 6392; Liogier, A.H. 30010; Prey, N. 82; Sargent, F.H. 189; Sintenis, P. 158; Stevenson, J.A. 98; 306; 3328; Underwood, L.M. 757.
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Thunbergia grandiflora (Roxb. ex Rottler) Roxb., Hort. Geng. 45. 1814.

Fig. 15. A-F

Basionym: Flemingia grandiflora Roxb. ex Rottler

Woody vine, twining, 10-15 m in length. Stems cylindrical, up to 2.5 cm in diameter, striate, puberulous; cross section of the stem with the pith hollow and the xylem tissue with wide rays. Leaves opposite; blades 15-26 × 13-30 cm, ovate or broadly ovate, chartaceous, the apex acute or acuminate, the base cordiform or subcordiform, the margins lobate-dentate, ciliate; upper surface dark green, shiny, puberulous, with slightly prominent venation; lower surface light green, ull, glabrous or puberulous, with prominent venation; petioles 6-12 cm long, sulcate. Flowers arranged in axillary cymes; pedicels robust, cylindrical, 4-6 cm long; bracts light green, membranaceous, ovate, ca. 4 cm long, covering the calyx and the corolla tube. Calyx green, in the form of a ring, 4-5 mm long; corolla lilac or white, infundibuliform, with 5 lobes, the tube 6-7 cm long, light yellow inside, narrow at the base, the limb 6-7 cm in diameter. Capsule ca. 3 cm long, subglobose at the base, the upper half in the form of a beak, dehiscent in two halves.

Phenology: Flowering throughout the year and fruiting sporadically from May to July.

Status: Exotic, very aggressive, widely cultivated and naturalized in Puerto Rico.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 7049; 9350; 9418.
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Schlegelia brachyantha Griseb., Cat. Pl. Cub. 191. 1866.

Fig. 152. A-E

Synonyms: Schlegelia brachyantha var. portoricensis Urb.

Schlegelia portoricensis (Urb.) Britton

Schlegelia axillaris sensu A. Stahl, non Griseb.

Woody vine, 10-15 m in length, climbing by adventitious roots that are produced in the area of the nodes. Stems cylindrical, lenticellate, up to 5 cm in diameter. Leaves opposite; blades simple, 6-12 × 3-7 cm, elliptical, oblong, or obovate, coriaceous, fragile, glabrous, the apex obtuse or rounded, sometimes retuse, the base acute, obtuse, or rounded, the margins smooth, revolute; upper surface dark, shiny, with the midvein sunken; lower surface yellowish green, with a prominent midvein; petioles recurved, thick, grayish, 8-12 mm long. Flowers in small axillary racemes; pedicels pubescent, 4-8 mm long. Calyx green, campanulate, truncate, ca. 5 mm long; corolla white or pink with mulberry-colored lines inside, tubular, 15-18 mm long, the limb with 5 rounded lobes, unequal; stamens 4, exserted, 2 fertile, 2 staminodia. Berry globose, purple when ripe, 6-10 mm in diameter; seeds angular, surrounded by the pulp of the fruit.

Phenology: Flowering throughout the year, particularly from March to August, and fruiting in June.

Status: Native, very common.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 2964; Britton, N.L. 5534; 6383; Eggers, B. 1318; Liogier, A.H. 10762; 28533; Sargent, F.H. 312; Shafer, J.A. 3446; Sintenis, P. 3075; Stevenson, J.A. 5233.
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Distictis lactiflora (Vahl) Dc., Prodr. 9: 191. 1845.

Fig. 3. A; 44. E-H

Basionym: Bignonia lactiflora Vahl

Synonym: Macrodiscus lactiflorus (Vahl)Bureau

Woody vine that climbs by tendrils with adhesive discs and attains 5 m or more in length. Mature stems cylindrical with the bark light brown, shredded; cross section with peripheral phloem forming a cross of 4 arms. Branches quadrangular, striate, puberulous, with thickened nodes; pseudostipules foliaceous, 3-4 mm long, deciduous. Leaves opposite, 2-foliolate, with a terminal tendril with 3 branches, 2 of them modified into an adhesive disc; leaflets 2.7-8 × 2-4.5 cm, oblong, elliptical to subrounded, coriaceous, with the reticulate venation conspicuous, the apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate, the base rounded or acute, unequal; upper surface shiny, glabrous, puberulous, or minutely lepidote; lower surface pale green, dull, covered with minute transparent scales, venation prominent; petioles 1-2 cm long, the petiolules 5-10 mm long, both with 2 rows of crimped hairs. Flowers fragrant, in pendulous, terminal racemes or panicles, 10-30 cm long; peduncles and pedicels pubescent. Calyx simple, green, crateriform, 5-7 mm long, truncate at the apex or minutely denticulate; corolla white, infundibuliform, 2.5-5.5 cm long, the tube yellow inside, the lobes 5, rounded, ca. 1.5 cm long. Capsule woody, elliptical, 6.5-13 × 1.7-3.5 cm, somewhat compressed or subcylindrical, with the apex and base acute; seeds numerous, compressed, ca. 2.5 cm long, the central circular body ca. 7 mm in diameter, with a surrounding marginal hyaline wing.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting almost throughout the year, especially from November to July.

Status: Native, very common in southwestern Puerto Rico.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 982; 2203; 4660; 5403; 7010; 10557; 11822; Britton, N.L. 1268; 1771; 5849; Goll, G.P. 500; 694; Heller, A.A. 341; Shafer, J.A. 2789; Sintenis, P. 577; 2116; 2173; 3091; 3187; 3304; 6819; Underwood, L.M. 459.
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