Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

28 ARALIACEAE-ASCLEPIADACEAE SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY
Oreopanax dussu
OreopaMx dussii Krug & Urban ex Duss. 1897:322.
Tree to 6 m; leaves 5-7-lobed.
Guadeloupe, Martinique; summits of Dominica above lo00
m: Morne Diablotins (Nicolson 4173), Morne Micotrin
(Nicolson 1977). New record for Dominica. Very young
flowers in November, fruits in late May.
Schefflera J.R. & J.G. Forster
Scheflera attenuata
Scheflera attenuata (Swaltz) Frodin, 1989 [Nov]:315.-Howard, 1989 [Dec],
614.
P~MX attenuatus Swam, 178854, “a!!entuata.”
DidymopaMxattenuatus (Swartz)Marchalin Martius, 1878,11(1):234.-A.C.
Smith in North her. Fl., 1944,28B:13.
Aralie montagne.
Glabrous shrub or tree to 12 m; leaflets 3-6, ovate,
acuminate.
Lesser Antilles; co-dominant with kaklin (Clusia mangle)
near summits of Dominica, 750-1350 m: Boiling Lake (Beard
247), Morne Anglais (Wilbur 7934), Morne Diablotins (Hodge
2817, Wasshausen & Ayensu 414), Morne Micotrin vicinity
(Chambers 2573, Ernst 1093, 1714, Eggers 625, Fosberg
48282, Smith 10251, Stern & Wasshausen 2573, Webster
13243, Whitefoord 5150, Wilbur 8199, 8252), Morne Trois
Pitons (Chambers 2590, Hodge 661, 1422, Nicolson 1816,
Wilbur 8083), Mosquito Mountain (Webster 13532).
Eggers 625 was distributed under a misidentification,
Didymopanax glabratus.
ARISTOLWHIACEAE
(by R. DeFilipps)
Aristolochia Linnaeus
Aristolochia anguicida Jacquin has cordate leaves and
flowers to 2.5 cm long. It occurs in neotropics and was
questionably referred to Dominica by Hodge and Taylor
(1957598).
Arktolochia trilobata
Ark!olochia trilobata Linnaeus, 1753:960.
Liana; leaves trilobate, glabrous above, puberulent below, to
15 cm wide; the petaloid calyx brown with purple stripes,
bilobate, the lower lobe ending in a filiform extension 8-20 cm
long; fruit a capsule.
New World tropics; in Dominica near east coast at 300 m: La
Plaine (Morne Jaune) (Narodny s.n.), Salybia (Hodge 3198).
It is possible that this spectacular species is introduced.
Medicinal usages were reported by Adjanohoun et al. (198553,
pl. 19).
ASCLEPIADACEAE
1. Plantserect.
2. Leaves petiolate; corolla lobes deflexed, red/yellow or
cream. .................... Asclepias
2. Leaves sessile and clasping; corolla lobes spreading,
violet. .................... Calotropis
1. Plants twining.
3. Venation pinnate; leaves acute to rounded at base.
4. Leaf-blade >4 cm long; inflorescence stalk&,
cymose ................. Marsdenia
4. Leaf-blade c3 cm long; inflorescence f sessile, f
umbellate. .............. Melastelma
3. Venation palmate at base: leaves truncate to cordate at
base.
5. Plants glabrous: leaves truncate; inflorescence
staked ................. Gonolobus
5. Plants pubescent; leaves cordate; inflorescence f
sessile ................... Matelea
Asclepias Linnaeus
Asclepias physocarpa (E. Meyer) Schlechter, with white
flowers and inflated, softly bristly fruits, is cultivated at Baiac
(Whitefoord 4224).
Asclepias c urassa vica
Asclepias cwassavica Linnaeus. 1753 :2 1 S.-Woodson, 195460.
Asclepias nivea var. cwassavica (Linnaeus) Kuntze, 1891,2:418.-Schlechter
in Urban, 1899,1:243.
Erect herb with elliptic-lanceolate leaves; flowers showy,
umbellate, with crimson, deflexed corolla and yellow, erect
hoods, each hood with an inner, basal horn that arches over the
gynostegium; fruit smooth, fusiform.
Ubiquitous in neotropics; a weed in Dominica from
100-600 m: Calibishie (Wilbur 8303, Delices (Whitefoord
3779, Fond Baron (Ernst 1603), Hatton Garden (Hodge 3053),
Mt. Joy (Hodge 1265), South Chiltern (Hodge 1476), Sylvania
(Cooper 64, Hodge 1145).
The root used for a febrifuge by Caribs (Hodge and Taylor,
1957597).
Calotropis R. Brown
Calotropb procera
Calotropkprocera (Aiton) W.T. Aiton, 181 1,2:78.
Asclepias procera Aiton, 1789. 1:305.-Willdenow, 1797, 1:1263.
Tall herb with sessile, obovate, glaucous leaves c2x longer
than broad; bud globular; flowers umbellate, violet; coronal
spurs not recurved.
Dry areas of West Africa and South Asia, introduced and
naturalizing; reported for Dominica by Velez (1957:75) on the
authority of Britton.