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(Last Modified On 5/30/2013)
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(Last Modified On 5/30/2013)
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Genus
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Matelea Aubl.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Hist. PI. Guiane Fr. 277, t. 109. 1775.
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Note
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TYPE: M. palustris Aubl.
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Description
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Mostly perennial herbs, sometimes basally woody, usually scandent, but sometimes prostrate or erect, glabrous to densely ferruginous pubescent, the hairs frequently of two types, long multicellular ones which overtop shorter glandular ones. Leaves petiolate, variable in form but frequently cordate. In- florescence usually umbelliform, commonly racemiform with age, few- to many- flowered, pedunculate. Flowers with the calyx 5-lobed nearly to the base, 5- or more glandular within at the base; corolla rotate to shallowly campanulate, usually green, sometimes brownish, shallowly or deeply 5-lobate; stamens in- serted at the base of the corolla, the corona variable, entire or lobed, often an- nular and/or fimbriate, a faucal corona present or absent, the filaments connate into a short tube, the anthers not vesicular and lacking dorsal appendages; pol- linia solitary in each anther theca, inserted horizontally or nearly so (sometimes appearing pendulous in those of quadrate form where the width equals or ex- ceeds the length of the pollinium) with a conspicuous sterile, hyaline margin near the attachment to the translators; stigma usually broadly 5-angled and apically depressed. Fruit a single follicle, slender or broad, smooth, sometimes winged or with tuberculate projections.
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Habit
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herbs
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Distribution
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This is a genus of 180-200 species ranging from the central United States southward into South America.
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Note
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The highly variable corona makes this one of the most interesting genera of the Asclepiadaceae, and it has been one of the primary criteria for the coining of some 50-60 separate generic names.
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Key
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a. Mature leaves cordate at the base. b. Corolla suburceolate, the tube 1 cm long or more; leaves usually more than 12 cm long. c. Corolla lobes glabrous, dark choc...... 3. M. tristis cc. Corolla lobes papillate-hispid, yellow-green to brownish-green ...... 2. M. trianae bb. Corolla rotate, the tube 5 mm long or less; leaves usually less than 12 cm long. d. Corolla less than 1 cm in diameter, the lobes reflexed at anthesis; stigma head circular. e. Stigma with a conspicuous peg-like beak ca. 2 mm long; stems and leaves with short, soft, white pubescence ...... 1. M. maritima ee. Stigma unappendaged; leaves and stems with long, spreading, red-brown hairs ...... 6. M. pinguifolia dd. Corolla more than 1 cm in diameter, the lobes spreading at anthesis; stigma head 5-angled. f. Corolla bright green; stems and leaves pubescent ...... 9. M. viridiflora ff. Corolla dull yellow-green to tan; stems and leaves glabrous or nearly so ...... 4. M. pittieri aa. Mature leaves rounded to cuneate at the base, not cordate. g. Leaves and stems densely brown pubescent; leaves 10 cm or more long; flowers brown tinged with red or green. h. Flowers red-brown, corolla lobes spreading; pedicels less than 1 cm long ...... 7. M. panamensis hh. Flowers brownish-green; corolla lobes strongly reflexed; pedicels 2-3 cm long ...... 8. M. brasiliensis gg. Leaves and stems glabrous; leaves less than 10 cm long; flowers bright emerald green ...... 5. M. mediocris
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