Diagnostic description ²

Cayaponia racemosa (Mill.) Cogn. in A.Dc. & C.Dc., Mon. Phan. 3: 768. 1881.

Fig. 80. C-G

Basionym: Bryonia racemosa Mill.

Climbing herbaceous vine, with axillary tendrils, attaining 10-15 m in length. Stems green, cylindrical, striate, glabrous, swollen at the nodes; tendrils trifid, 15 cm long or longer. Leaves alternate; blades entire or 3-7-lobed, 4-20 × 3-17 (25) cm, ovate, chartaceous or subcoriaceous, the lobes oblong, the apex acuminate or acute, the base cordiform or reniform, the margins spinulose; upper surface scabrid; lower surface light green, dull, with the reticulate venation prominent, puberulous; petioles sulcate or slightly winged, glabrous, 4-7 cm long. Flowers unisexual, in axillary racemes. Calyx pale green, crateriform or campanulate, 3-4 mm long, the lobes triangular; corolla greenish white, tubular, the tube ca. 3 mm long, pubescent inside, the lobes 3-5 mm long, reflexed. Berry ovoid, 10-12 mm long, green, turning orange when ripe; seeds 2-3, elliptical, ca. 8 mm long, not arillate.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting throughout the year.

Status: Native, very common throughout Puerto Rico.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 9355; 10805; 11444; Axelrod, F. 4441; 6087; Britton, N.L. 1784; Stevenson, J.A. 772.

Distribution ³

Distribution: In pastures and on roadsides at lower elevations. Cited for Tortola by Britton (1925); also in the Greater Antilles, Central America, Barbados, Trinidad, and northern South America.

Public forest: Guilarte, Maricao, Río Abajo, Susúa, and Toro Negro.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10355722
2. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435279
3. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435794

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• World Flora Online

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