(Last Modified On 3/27/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/27/2013)
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Species
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Cissus erosa L. Rich.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Act. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 1: 106, 1792.-Fig. 2D.
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Synonym
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Cissus salutaris Kunth in H.B.K., Nov. Gen. Sp. PI. 5: 225, 1821. Vitis salutaris Baker in Mart., Fl. Bras. 14(2):211, pl. 52, 1871.
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Description
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Vine becoming woody, often climbing, the stems angulate, tetragonal, fre- quently winged on the margins, slightly nodose, glabrous or with a few scattered, appressed, pilose hairs; stipules broadly ovate to subrotund, subpersistent, 3-4 mm long, the apex obtuse, glabrous. Leaves 3-foliolate, the petiole 1.8-6.5 cm long, 4-gonal especially at the base, glabrescent, occasionally winged, the wing up to 1.5 mm broad; leaflets chartaceous to subcoriaceous, sharply serrate to sparsely dentate, occasionally shallowly so, glabrous to sparsely pilose beneath, especially on the costa, the lateral veins 4-6 pairs, ascending and terminating between the teeth; terminal leaflet 4.5-15.5 cm long, 1.5-8 cm broad, elliptic to elliptic-ovate to ovate, cuneate at the base, acute to subobtuse at the apex, sessile to short- petiolate, rarely to 1.5 cm long; lateral leaflets 3.5-12 cm long, 2-6 cm broad, inequilateral, ovate to ovate-elliptic, oblique and rounded to subcuneate at the base, acute to obtuse at the apex. Inflorescences cymose, appearing corymbose with the flowers congested in pseudoumbels, the mature peduncles (6-)7-12 cm long, glabrous or with a few scattered, appressed, pilose hairs. Flowers bright red to reddish-orange, the pedicel 2-5 mm long, pilose often sparsely so, the calyx with four short lobes, often indiscernible, the corolla of four free petals, oblong, acute at the apex, ca 1 mm long; pistil 1-1.5 mm long. Berries green becoming black with maturity, 4-6 mm in diam, orbicular to subpyriform, 1-seeded; seeds pyriform, 4-5 mm long.
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Habit
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Vine
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Distribution
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Southern Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America.
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Specimen
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CANAL ZONE: Ancon Hill, Duke 4587 (MO); Barro Colorado I, Brown 33 (F), Wood- worth & Vestal 530 (A, F); Gamboa, Tyson et al. 4588 (MO); vie of Miraflores, White 135 (GH, MO); vie of Rio Cocoll, K-9 road, Stern et al. 36 (GH, MO), 305 (GH, MO); Frijoles, nr boat dock, Ebinger 70 (MO); Howard Air Force Base, SE of Kobbe Beach, Oliver & MacBryde 1890 (MO). COCLE: vie of El Valle de Anton, Allen 750 (GH, MO, US); betw Las Margaritas & El Valle de Anton, Woodson et al. 1763 (GH, MO). COLON: vie of Rio Piedras, along road to Puerto Bello, Blum et al. 2536 (MO); vic of Sardinilla ca 7-8 mi E of Cement Plant, Blum & Tyson 504 (MO); betw Rio Piedras & Puerto Pilon, Lewis et al. 3215 (DUKE, MO, UC). HERRERA: 12.5 mi S of Ocu', Lewis et al. 1624 (GH, MO, US). PANAMA: Cerro Azul, Tyson 2151 (MO); Cerro Campana, trail from Campana to Chica, Allen 2649 (MO); San Jose I, Erlanson 68 (GH), Johnston 429 (GH), 885 (GH), 973 (MO), 976 (GH, MO). SAN BLAS: along the headwaters of the Rio Mula- tupo, Elias 1727 (MO). VERAGUAS: hills W of Sona, Allen 1035 (GH, MO, US).
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Note
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Cissus erosa occurs frequently throughout Middle and South America and shows considerable variation in leaf margins and the occasional presence of indu- mentum on the lower leaf surfaces. Despite Planchon's (in D.C., Monogr. Phan. 5(2): 548-9, 1887) reduction of C. salutaris to a synonym of C. erosa, some workers (Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 24: 302, 1949) have maintained the two as distinct based mainly on the degree of pubescence of the leaves. As specimens assigned to the two species show an intergradation of characters, the reduction by Planchon is apparently justifiable.
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