Vitis tiliifolia Roem. & Schult.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Vitaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Vitis tiliifolia Humb. & Bonpl. ex Schult.

  • Description

    Species Description - Liana 10-35 m long; stems cylindrical, producing copious watery sap when cut; bark dark brown, rough, fissured. Leaves simple or 3-lobed; blades 6.5-14 x 6.5-12.5 cm, widely ovate, chartaceous, densely woolly pubescent beneath, slightly so above, the apex acute to short-acuminate, the base cordate to nearly truncate, the margins toothed; petioles 2.5-8 cm long; stipules early deciduous. Panicles hanging, the axes woolly-tomentose to glabrous, 9-17 cm long. Calyx green, disk-shaped, the sepals ca. 0.2 mm long; petals 1.5-2.2 mm long, yellowish green, oblongobovate; disk ca. 0.2 mm tall. Berry globose, 5-10 mm wide, turning from green to light violet. Seeds 1 or 2 per fruit, compressed, circular in outline, ca. 4 mm long.

    Distribution and Ecology - An uncommon liana of wet and seepage areas. Bay Gut (A2128), Reef Bay Gut (W831). Also on St. Croix (according to Britton & Wilson, 1924); Mexico to northern South America, including the West Indies.

  • Discussion

    Common name: wild grape.