Macfadyena unguis-cati (L.) A.H.Gentry
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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
Bignoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Liana 10-15 m long; stem cylindrical, with numerous lenticels, reaching 6 cm diam. Leaflets 6-16 x 1.2-7 cm, elliptic, oblong, or obovate, chartaceous, glabrous, or with a few dotlike scales, the apex acute or acuminate, the base obtuse, cuneate, or rounded, usually oblique, the margins wavy; tendrils deciduous, much shorter than the leaflets; petioles and petiolules glabrous, the petiolule 0.5-2.5 cm long, the petiole 1-4.5 cm long; pseudostipules in leaf axils. Flowers solitary or in pairs in leaf axils. Calyx bell-shaped, 12-16 mm long, green, with 5 unequal lobes; corolla yellow, zygomorphic, funnel-shaped, 4-8 cm long, the tube slightly flattened, the lobes rounded, 2-4 cm long, the two upper lobes slightly reflexed; stamens 4, didynamous, included, inserted at base of corolla, the staminode much shorter than the stamens; ovary 6-7 mm long, covered with dotlike scales. Capsule slightly woody, brown, 25-95 cm long, covered with dotlike scales, hanging from the branches. Seeds 1-1.8 cm long, with membranous wing.
Distribution and Ecology - Abundant on trees, in dry or moist forests or in open, disturbed areas such as roadsides. Cruz Bay Quarter along Center Line Road (A2110), Susannaberg (A3958). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda; throughout tropical and subtropical America.
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Discussion
Common names: cat claw, cat paw, monkey earring, wist.