Galactia dubia DC.

• Title

  Galactia dubia DC.

• Authors

  Nathaniel Lord Britton, Frances W. Horne

• Scientific Name

  Galactia dubia DC.

• Description

  Flora Borinqueña Galactia dubia Small Galactia Family Fabaceae Pea Family Galactia dubia De Candolle, Prodromus 2: 238. 1825. A small-leaved, twining, slender vine, occasional in thickets at lower elevations in Porto Rico, mostly near the coasts, but locally extending inland, as near Coamo, and growing also on the small islands Vieques, Culebra and Cayo Icacos; it ranges eastward in the Virgin Islands and southward in the Lesser Antilles from Anguilla to Guadeloupe. Like Galactia striata it varies greatly in hairyness, from nearly smooth to densely velvety, and its flowers may be white, pink, purple, or lavender. An account of the genus is given with our description of Galactia striata. Galactia dubia (doubtful, but the name was not well chosen) is about 2 meters long, or much shorter. The oval, or oval-obovate leaflets, from 1.5 to 4 centimeters long, are rounded, or notched at the apex:, the upper surface smooth, or long-hairy, the underside appressed-hairy especially on the veins. The flower-clusters are usually short and short-stalked, the individual flowers few, on stalks from 3 to 6 millimeters long; the calyx is 7 or 8 millimeters long, its lobes lance-shaped; the standard is from 10 to 15 millimeters long, about as long as the keel. The pod is from 3 to 6 centimeters long, 5 or 6 millimeters wide, with long, appressed hairs.