Arrabidaea chica (Humb. & Bonpl.) B.Verl.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro. 2005. Vines and climbing plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 51: 1-483.
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Family
Bignoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Description - Liana that climbs by tendrils and attains 15 m in length. Stems quadrangular, striate, glabrous, 4-sulcate, up to 6 cm in diameter; cross section of the mature stem with a cross of 4 dark arms, formed by the phloem tissue. Pseudostipules inconspicuous. Leaves turning reddish on drying, 2-3-foliolate, the terminal leaflet replaced by a simple, deciduous, filiform, spiral-shaped tendril; lateral leaflets 3.4-11 x 1.5-5 cm, ovate, chartaceous, glabrous or with some scattered hairs, the apex acuminate or acute, the base truncate, rounded, or cordiform, the margins entire; lower surface with a prominent midvein; petioles 1 .5-7 cm long, petiolules 0.3-4.5 cm long, both cylindrical and turning blackish on drying. Flowers fragrant, produced in terminal panicles. Calyx simple, 3-5 mm long, puberulent, crateriform, truncate or minutely denticulate; corolla violet, zygomorphic, infundibuliform, 1.5-3 cm long, with the lobes rounded; stamens and staminodia inserted, borne near the base of the corolla; ovary cylindrical, lepidote, with a small annular disc at the base. Capsules linear or narrowly elliptical, 12-23 cm long, smooth, glabrous, semi-woody, acute or obtuse at both ends; seeds numerous, 7-9 mm long, the wings lateral.
Phenology - Collected in fruit in March.
Conservation Status - Native, rare, probably extirpated in Puerto Rico, since it has not been collected there in more than a century.