Dioclea reflexa Hook.f.
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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
Fabaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Description - Woody vine, twining, attaining 10 m in length. Stems pilose, cylindrical, glabrescent when mature, attaining 1 cm in diameter. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets 7-16 x 5-10.5 cm (the terminal leaflet larger than the lateral ones), elliptical or less frequently oblong, chartaceous, the apex rounded, usually terminating in a short apiculus, the base rounded, unequal on the lateral leaflets, the margins entire or undulate, slightly revolute; upper surface green, dull, punctate, strigulose, especially on the midvein, the lateral veins sunken; lower surface pale green, dull, strigulose, with prominent pilose venation; petiolules thickened, 5-6 mm long, pilose; stipels 8-10 mm long, linear; petioles 7-9 cm long, sulcate, pilose, with the base thickened; stipules subulate, ca. 1 cm long, sericeous. Inflorescences of axillary or terminal pseudoracemes; rachis ca. 40 cm long, thick, woody, sericeous; flowers in groups of three on each of the nodal swellings along the rachis; bracts subulate, ca. 1.5 cm long, reflexed, sericeous. Calyx ca. 1.5 cm long, ferruginous-strigulose, with five lobes, one of which is lanceolate and longer, the rest ovate; corolla cardinal red or violet, the standard ca. 1.2 cm long, with the center whitish inside, the wings and the keel unguiculate, as long as the standard. Legume 10-15 x 5-6 cm, oblong, laterally compressed between the seeds, densely pubescent, glabrescent on drying, the margins thickened. Seeds 1-3, circular, 2-3.5 cm long, brown with a black hilum along 2/3 - 3/4 of the circumference.
Phenology - Collected in flower from October to December and in fruit from January to March.
Conservation Status - Native, uncommon.
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Discussion
In this work I follow Maxwell (1999), who considers D. reflexa as a species distinct from the Asian species, D. hexandra (Ralph) Mabberley. The seeds of D. reflexa superficially resemble those of Mucuna urens, since they are of similar size and both possess a hilum that covers a large portion of its circumference. Nevertheless, the seeds of D. reflexa are distinguished from those of the latter species by their light brown color with brown spots (vs. uniformly reddish brown) and by the presence of a dark brown hilum (vs. a black hilum).
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Common Names
bejuco de mato, maya prieta