Cardiospermum halicacabum L.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Sapindaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cardiospermum halicacabum L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Herbaceous vine to 2 m long, with multiple annual branches from a semiwoody base; branches angled, 5-ribbed, glabrous or puberulous. Leaves biternate; leaflets chartaceous, ovate or oblong, with obtuse, acute, or acuminate apex and tapering base, the margins deeply lobed or dissected; petioles 2-3 cm long, not winged; stipules lanceolate, ca. 5 mm long. Thyrses axillary, shorter than the subtending leaves, bearing a pair of tendrils at base of rachis. Calyx of 5 unequal, rounded, greenish sepals; petals 3.5-4.5 mm long, the appendage apically yellow; stamens 8, the filaments pubescent. Capsule globose to trigonous-topshaped, depressed at apex, turning from green to straw-colored, with 1 seed per locule. Seeds spherical, ca. 5 mm , black, with a white cordate hilum.

  • Discussion

    Common name: balloon vine.

  • Distribution

    Disturbed areas, mostly along roadsides. Fish Bay (A2501), trail to Mennebeck Bay (A2429), Monte (A2474). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; elsewhere in the tropics and subtropics as a weed; cultivated as an ornamental in temperate areas.

    Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|