Syngonium podophyllum Schott
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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
Araceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Vine to 10 m long, rooting at nodes; stem cylindrical, glaucous, 1-2 cm diam., producing milky sap when cut. Leaves pedately divided; leaflets 3-11, united or free to base, coriaceous, the apex acuminate, the base variously auriculate, the margins sinuate, outermost leaflets smaller, the medial leaflets 16-38 x 6-17 cm, obovate elliptic or lanceolate; petioles 15-60 cm long, nearly cylindrical, sheathed two-thirds of their length. Inflorescences 4-11 per axil, ascending; peduncles 8-9 cm long, slender; spathe ca. 10 cm long, convolute into an ellipsoid tube at base, the blade cream-colored, concave, ephemeral; spadix whitish, sessile, cylindrical, with a constriction between the pistillate and the staminate areas. Syncarp ovoid, red, reddish orange, or yellow, 3-5.5 cm long.
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Distribution
Native to Mexico and grown as an ornamental throughout the Caribbean; a few individuals have escaped cultivation on St. John. Susannaberg (A4061); naturalized throughout tropical America.
Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|