Entada polystachya var. polyphylla (Benth.) Barneby
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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
Mimosaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Description - Liana, not spiny, that climbs by means of foliar tendrils (homologous to the two distal pinnae) and attains 10 m in length. Stems more or less cylindrical, striate. Leaves bipinnate, 15-25 cm long; pinnae in 4-6 pairs; rachis slightly flattened along the upper surface, puberulent; secondary rachis carinate, puberulent, with a pair of stipels below the basal pinnae; leaflets 10-20 pairs per pinna, 10-16 mm long, oblong, coriaceous, the apex obtuse, rounded, or emarginate, the base asymmetrical, one side cuneate, the other truncate, the margins entire, revolute; upper surface dark green, glabrous or puberulent; lower surface pale green, strigulose, with the midvein prominent; petiole 3-3.5 cm long, with a long pulvinulus at the base; stipules minute, early deciduous. Inflorescences terminal, forming a raceme of cylindrical spikes, 4-5 cm long. Calyx crateriform, ca. 0.5 mm long, puberulent; petals oblong, green or reddish brown, 1.2-1.5 mm long; stamens while. slightly longer than the petals. Legumes 25-35 x 6.5-7.5 cm, oblong, flattened, coriaceous, glabrous, stipitate, with the margins thickened and conspicuously undulate, separating into segments that contain a single seed. Seeds 4-6 mm long, elliptical, light brown.
Phenology - Collected in flower in May.
Conservation Status - Apparently native, extremely rare or extirpated.