Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 77 GESNERIACEAE-H~PWCRATEACEAE 119
Columnea hirsuta Swartz, a Jamaican endemic, was reported
from Dominica by Grisebach (1862:465) based on a collection
by Imray. This collection (K) is Columnea scandens Linnaeus.
Gesneria Linnaeus
Gesneria ventrkosa
Gesnerio ventricoso Swartz, 1788:90.--Skog, 1976:72.
Pentorhophia longijloro Lindley, 1827. sub pl. 1110.nom. superfl., “Pentoro ~
phio.”
Conrodio ventricoso (Swartz) Martius ex G. Don, 1838,4:650.
Shrubs, scandent or erect; stem to 3 m tall, resinous; leaves
alternate, glabrous, petioles to 4.5 cm long, blades ovate,
elliptic to oblanceolate, often falcate, to 22.7 cm long; flowers
glabrous, 1 to many, usually 4 on a peduncle to 16 cm long;
calyx lobes filiform to narrowly triangular, to 2 cm long,
persistent; corolla tubular, 2.1-3.2 cm long, orange to red,
glabrous; ovary inferior; capsule dry, turbinate or nearly
spherical.
Lesser Antilles from St. Croix to St. Vincent; in southern
Dominica on cliffs and wet slopes in rainforests, 60-750 m:
Clarke Hall (Ernst 1061, Stern & Wusshausen 2401), Goodwill
Valley (Eggers s.n.), LaPlaine area (Nicolson 2065), Macouchen
River (Whitefoord 5973), Roseau Valley (Eggers s.n.,
Howard 11741), S. Chiltern-Grand Bay Road (Ernst 1616,
Hodge 1551, Skog 1583, Wilbur 7871), Sylvania (Hodge 835,
1185).
Nautilocalyx Linden ex Hanstein
Nautilocalyx melittifolius
Nouiilocalyx melittifolius (Linnaeus) Wiehler, 1973:307.
Beslerio melittifolio Linnaeus, 1753:619.
Beslerio gua&lupemis A.P. Candolle. 1839,7538.
Epircio melittifolio (Linnaeus) Martius, 1829,3:42.
Episcio melitf@lio f. glradalupemis (A.P. Candolle) Stehle.1962~32.
Skiophilo melirfifolio (Linnaeus) Hans&, 1854207.
Noutilocolyx me1ittifoliu.r var. guo&lupensis (A.P. Candolle) Foumet,
1978: 1325, nom. invalid. [basionym incompletely cited].
Succulent herb; stem erect or ascending, pubescent to
glabrescent, rooting at the base; leaves with petioles 1-8 cm
long, blades elliptic to ovate, to 27 cm long, occasionally
purplish on lower side; peduncles about 2 cm long, bearing 1 to
12 flowers in an umbel or cyme; sepals lanceolate, green;
corolla to 3 cm long, tubular with a broad limb; stamens
included, ovary superior.
Lesser Antilles; common in Dominica in shady ravines or
wet forest margins, 60-750 m: east side (Melville Hall, Carib
Reserve, Deux Branches, La Plaine) (Cowan 1618, Chambers
2504, Hodge 827, 2947, 3122, 3241, Nicolson 2058), northwestern
area (Morne Aux Diables, Syndicate, La Chaudiere)
(Hodge 2710, 3555, Wilbur 8062, Whitefoord 3572, 3616),
central uplands (Font Casse, Freshwater Lake, Lisdara) (Hodge
829, 830, 1199, 1855, 2335, Smith 10277, Webster 13253),
southwestern area (Clarke Hall, Sylvania, Roseau Valley to S.
Chiltern) (Cooper 57, Eggers 613, Ernst 1002, Hodge 828,
1162,1345,1144, Howard 11743, Stern & Wasshuusen 2402,
Wilbur 7673).
Leaves and pink flowers are used by Caribs in a tea for colds
(Hodge and Taylor, 1957508). Adjanohoun et al. (1985:107,
pl. 74) reported the same.
HALORACACEAE
Myrwphyllum aquaticum
Myrwphyllwn aquaticum (Vellozo) Verdcourt, 1973:36.-Aiken, 1981:60.-
Whitefoord, 1989:146.
Enydrio oqtatico Vellozo, 1829,157; 1831, 1, pl. 150.
Myriophyllwn brarilieme Cambessedes in Saint-Hilaire, 1831,252.
Parrot’s feather, water feather.
Submersed aquatic with whorled, pectinate leaves to 3 cm
long; tips of stems rising out of water.
South America but widely used by aquarists and naturalizing;
new record for Dominica collected in 1983: small pond in
pasture at Canefield (Whitefoord 3745 at BM).
HERNANDIACEAE
(by R. DeFilipps)
Gyrocarpus americanus Jacquin (1763:282), a widely
naturalized monoecious tree of the continental neotropics with
palmately veined, entire or lobed (not peltate) leaves and a fruit
with two apical wings to 11 cm long, has been collected in the
Roseau Botanical Garden (Hodge 3942), fruiting in May.
HIPP~CRATEACEAE
Lianas; leaves opposite; flowers 4-merous; stamens 3; fruit
of 3 flattened capsules. This family is often placed in the
Celastraceae.
1. Branchlets and inflorescence puberulent; leaf-blades drying
brownish; floral disk conspicuous (about as high as
broad) . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . Hippocratea
1. Branchlets and inflorescence glabrous; leaf-blades drying
greenish; floral disk inconspicuous, flat. . . . Pristimera
Hippocratea Linnaeus
Hippocratea volubilis
Hippocroteo volubilir Linnaeus, 1753:1153.-A.C. Smith, 1940:359.
Petals transversally barbellate inside; seed wings not
thickened.
Florida to Argentina; known from Dominica only from the
estuary of the Indian River: near Portsmouth (Hodge 3754).
Fruiting in May.