Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg.
-
Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
-
Family
Cannabaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Species Description - Polygamous monoecious scandent shrub or liana 3.5-10(-20) m long; trunk reaching 8 cm diam., the bark grayish, with lightcolored lenticels; main stems with numerous, alternate, short, lateral branches; twigs puberulent, nearly cylindrical, slightly flexuous, with a pair of short, axillary, recurved or straight spines. Leaf blades 4-15 x 2.5-8.7 cm, ovate, oblong, or seldom obovate, chartaceous, puberulent, the lower surface prominently veined, with domatia in the axils of secondary veins, the apex shortly acuminate to nearly obtuse, the base cordate to truncate, the margins entire, crenate, or remotely serrate; petioles 2-15 mm long. Flowers unisexual or bisexual, the staminate flowers in branched axillary cymes, the pistillate or bisexual flowers in fewflowered axillary cymes. Calyx deeply parted, 1-1.2 mm long, the sepals oblong, concave, with ciliate margins; stamens as long as the sepals, ascending; ovary bottle-shaped, the styles 2, pubescent, each 2-branched. Drupe nearly globose, 6-10 mm long, turning from green to orange, with persistent styles.
Distribution and Ecology - A common woody vine of scrub and dry coastal forests. Cinnamon Bay (A5150), Great Cmz Bay (A2361), Lameshur (A3237). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; the Greater and Lesser Antilles and continental tropical America.
-
Discussion
Common names: cat-claw, cockspur.