(Last Modified On 3/20/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/20/2013)
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Species
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Plukenetia volubilis L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. P1. 1192, 1753
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Reference
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Pax & Hoffm., Pflanzenreich 68 (IV, 147, IX): 14, 1919.-Fig. 15.
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Synonym
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Plukenetia peruviana Muell.-Arg., Linnaea 34: 157, 1865.
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Description
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Liana; twigs minutely appressed-pubescent, glabrescent. Leaves membranous; petioles mostly 3-8 cm long; stipules brownish, glabrous, ovate-lanceolate, 1-1.5 mm long; blades ovate, ca 7-13 cm long, 5-12 cm broad, glabrate and shining above, glabrate or sparsely hirsutulous and paler beneath, ventrally with 2 promi- nent ellipsoidal shining marginal glands (ca 1.5-2 mm long) near the base, major veins at base of blade 3, the remainder of blade pinnately veined (3 or 4 major laterals on either side), the veinlet reticulum conspicuous, the base truncate to subcordate, the margins finely to rather coarsely denticulate, the apex abruptly caudate-acuminate. Inflorescences axillary, , ca 3-8 cm long at anthesis, becom- ing up to 15-20 cm long in fruit; y flowers solitary at lowermost nodes, c3 flowers in clusters at distal nodes. Staminate flowers with pedicels ca 1-1.5 mm long; calyx-segments generally 4, lanceolate, acute, 1.8-2.5 mm long; receptacle conical, 0.7-1.5 mm high; disc obsolete; stamens 19-24, inserted spirally on the receptacle, the filaments 0.3-0.6 mm long, the anther-sacs bipartite, the locules discrete (hence anthers 4-partite), 0.3-0.4 mm long, the connective apex blunt and glandular. Pistillate flowers with pedicels becoming 10-15 mm long; calyx-lobes oblong- lanceolate, 1.8-2 mm long, 0.9-1 mm broad; ovary of 4 glabrous carinate carpels, the stylar column 11-25 mm long, slender, the stigmas thick, bilobed. Capsules deeply 4-lobed, oblate, up to ca 2 cm high, 3.5 cm broad, the cocci thick and rigid; seeds lenticular with thinner margins, reticulate-venose, brownish-mottled, 15-17 mm broad.
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Habit
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Liana
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Distribution
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Lowland rain forests below 1000 m, Lesser Antilles and Panama south to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.
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Elevation
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below 1000 m
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Specimen
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LOS SANTOS: betw Los Santos & Guarare, in thickets, Woo-dson et al. 1201 (A, MO, NY).
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Note
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The single Panamanian collection bears only small (immature?) fruits, and the above description has been augmented by reproductive details from some extra- Panamanian specimens (Ecuador, Mexia 7309; Bolivia, Krukoff 10082, Steinbach 7352; all UC). Although the collection from Los Santos accords reasonably well with South American material of P. volubilis L., more complete Panamanian col- lections are needed in order to make the identity of our representative a certainty.
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