Cayaponia americana (Lam.) Cogn.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Cucurbitaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Monoecious vine to 10 m long, with many lateral branches; stems angular or nearly cylindrical, with numerous longitudinal ribs, glabrous or puberulent, swollen at nodes; tendrils axillary, simple or branched. Leaf blades 5-20 x 5-18 cm, ovate, chartaceous, usually with coarse hairs on both surfaces, palmately lobed, with 3-5 deep sinuses, the lobes oblong-lanceolate, oblanceolate to linear, with obtuse, acuminate, or rounded apices, the base lyrate, the margins entire or crenate; petioles much shorter than blades, furrowed. Flowers axillary, solitary or in few-flowered racemes. Calyx green, 5-8 mm long; corolla nearly white or yellowish green, the tube ca. 1 cm long, the lobes to 1.5 cm long, oblong, reflexed; stamens with green filaments and yellow anthers. Berry smooth, ellipsoid, 1.5-2 cm long, turning from dark green to yellow and finally red. Seeds flattened-ovoid, 0.8-1.2 cm long, without aril.
Distribution and Ecology - Common in open moist areas. Bethany (B205), Susannaberg (A702), trail to Sieben (A2065). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; throughout the West Indies.