Diagnostic description ³

Hyperbaena domingensis (Dc.) Benth., J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 5, Suppl. 2: 50. 1861.

Fig. 1F; 126. A-H

Basionym: Cocculus domingensis Dc.

Twining liana attainig 15 m in length, or less frequently a scandent shrub with numerous lateral branches. Stems cylindrical, glabrous or puberulous; cross section with concentric rings of xylem. Leaves alternate, coriaceous, ovate or broadly ovate, 4-20 × 2.5-12 cm, with the venation pinnate, the apex acute or acuminate, the base cordiform or truncate, the margins entire; upper surface glabrous or puberulent on the primary and secondary veins; lower surface glabrous, the venation prominent, the tertiary venation reticulate; petioles 1-6 cm long, swollen at the apex. Inflorescences racemose, of minute white or greenish flowers; staminate inflorescences clustered; pistillate inflorescences solitary. Staminate flowers: calyx 0.6-0.8 mm long; petals ca. 1 mm long; stamens 6, ca. 1 mm long. Pistillate flowers slightly larger; ovary of 3 ellipsoid carpels. Monocarps obovoid, purple, glabrous, 1.0-1.5 cm long.

Phenology: Collected in flower during June, July, and November and in fruit during October and December.

Status: Native, uncommon.

Selected Specimens Examined: Acevedo-Rdgz., P. 3173; 5084; 7030; 11698; Liogier, A.H. 10117; 10324; Shafer, J.A. 3238; Sintenis, P. 4220.

Distribution ⁴

Distribution: In moist forests. Also on St. John and St. Thomas; in the Greater and Lesser Antilles and from northern South America to Bolivia.

Public Forests: El Yunque, Guajataca, Guilarte, and Río Abajo.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10351693
2. (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10366125
3. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435441
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435896

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