Diagnostic description ⁴

Xenostegia tridentata (L.) D. F. Austin & Staples, Brittonia 32: 533. 1980.

Fig. 79. H-M

Basionym: Convolvulus tridentatus L.

Synonym: Ipomoea angustifolia Jacq.

Merremia angustifolia (Jacq.) H. Hallier

Ipomoea filicaulis Willd.

Slightly woody vine, twining, much branched, climbing or creeping, 1-2 m in length, with scarce milky latex. Stems glabrous or pubescent, angular. Leaves alternate; blades 2-10 × 0.5-0.6 cm, chartaceous, linear, oblong, or lanceolate, the apex acute or acuminate and mucronate, the base hastate or auriculate, the margins 1-3-dentate in the basal portion; upper surface dark green, dull, glabrous, the venation flat; lower surface pale green, dull, glabrous or puberulous, with a prominent midvein; petioles 1-1.5 mm long, slender, cylindrical, glabrous. Flowers solitary or in simple cymes, axillary; peduncles slender, 2.5-4 cm long. Calyx green, the sepals unequal, oblong or ovate-oblong, 4-10 mm long, the two outer ones smaller, obtuse-truncate at the apex; corolla white or pale yellow, campanulate, 1-2 cm long, the limb with 5 deep lobes; stamens not exserted; stigmas not exserted. Capsule subglobose, 4-9 mm long, 4-valvate, the sepals persistent; seeds 1-4, obtusely ovoid, 2-3 mm long, glabrous, light brown, dull, squamulose.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from September to May.

Status: Exotic, naturalized, uncommon.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 9478; Britton, N.L. 1498; 5782; Heller, A.A. 1276; 6440; Sintenis, P. 6738; Stevenson, J.A. 1315; 1701; Strong, M.T. 417; Underwood, L.M. 982.

Distribution ⁵

Distribution: Native to the Old World tropics (Africa-Pacific), naturalized in some localities of the northern littoral zone (Manatí-Santurce), on sandy substrates. Also in South America and the Old World tropics.

Public forest: Tortuguero.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/images/14/147420-4.jpg
2. (c) Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/images/14/147420-3.jpg
3. (c) Marco Schmidt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=14&id=1089
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435276
5. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435792

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