Geophila repens (L.) I.M.Johnst.
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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
Rubiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Creeping, mat-forming herb, sometimes covering an area of a few square meters. Leaf blades 2-4.5 x 1.8-4 cm, ovate, membranous, glabrous, the apex obtuse to rounded, the base cordate, the margins entire; petioles slender, 2-5.5 cm long, pilose; stipules ca. 2 mm long, oblong, deciduous. Rowers 2-4 in terminal involucrate cymes; the axes 1.2-4 cm long. Hypanthium 1-1.5 mm long, green, bell-shaped, the sepals 1-2.2 mm long, lanceolate; corolla white, funnel-shaped, glabrous without, the throat pilose, the tube 7-9 mm long, cylindrical, the lobes 5, oblong-ovate, to 5 mm long; stamens included, the anthers lineate; style included. Drupe ca. 1 cm long, ovoid or nearly globose, bright red, crowned by the persistent, lanceolate, green sepals. Seeds 2 per fruit, 3.5-5 mm long, ellipsoid, plano-convex, grooved.
Distribution and Ecology - A rare herb of shaded, moist forest. Trail to Reef Bay (A2672, A2927). Also on St. Thomas; widespread throughout the West Indies and Mexico to South America.