Cissus trifoliata (L.) 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
Vitaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Slender liana, climbing or creeping, forming dense mats over surrounding vegetation, 1—3(—15) m long; stems slender, fleshy, cylindrical, reddish brown, puberulent or glabrous, swollen at nodes. Leaves trifoliolate; leaflets 2-3 x 1-2.6 cm (the central leaflet slightly larger than the lateral ones), ovate, obovate, or oblong, fleshy-chartaceous, glabrous, the apex obtuse or truncate, serrate, the base cuneate or shortly attenuate, the margins deeply serrate above the middle, the teeth with a sharp tip; petioles 1-3 cm long, slender; stipules lanceolate, 3.5-5 mm long, strawcolored. Cymes opposite to leaves, the peduncles glabrous, green, 2-5 cm long, many-branched; pedicels green. Calyx green, 1.5- 2 mm long; petals 2-2.5 mm long, yellowish to white, lanceolatetriangular, deciduous; disk 0.5-0.8 mm tall. Berry depressedglobose, 7-8 mm wide, turning from green to metallic blue to black, shiny.
Distribution and Ecology - A common weed of open disturbed, dry habitats. Great Lameshur Bay (A5446), Lind Point (A2693), Nanny Point (A2015). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.
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Discussion
Common name: sorrel vine.