Duranta erecta L.
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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
Verbenaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Shrub 2-3 m tall; stems nearly cylindrical or obscurely 4- angled, glabrous to finely pubescent, with axillary spines, 4-18 cm long. Leaves opposite, sometimes appearing whorled on short axillary branches; blades 1-3.5 x 0.6-1.8 cm, ovate-elliptic, ovate to obovate, chartaceous, glabrous, the apex acute to rounded, the base cuneate, the margins entire or serrate toward the apex; petioles 1.5-6 mm long, puberulent. Panicles 10-30 cm long, of 5 or more recurved or spreading branches 5-10 cm long. Calyx greenish, 4.5-6 mm long, puberulent between the ribs; corolla blue, violet, or white, 10-14 mm long, the limb 8-14 mm wide; stamens and style included. Drupe ovoid, 5-7 mm long; fruiting calyx orange, ovoid, narrowed toward apex.
Distribution and Ecology - An occasional shrub of dry and disturbed habitats. Brown Bay (A1880). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Virgin Gorda; throughout tropical and subtropical America.
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Discussion
Duranta repens L., Sp. P L 637. 1753. Duranta plumieri Jacq., Select. Stirp. A m e r . Hist. 186, t. 176, fig. 76. 1763.