Antigonon leptopus
Plants herbaceous or base sometimes woody. Stems climbing or sprawling by tendrils, branched, angular, to 15 m, sparsely to densely brownish- or reddish-pubescent or glabrous. Leaves: ocrea 0.2–2 mm; petiole often winged distally, 1–2.5(–5) cm, glabrate or pubescent; blade 5–14 × (2–)4–10 cm, base usually cordate, margins ciliate, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous or pubescent, especially on veins. Inflorescences 4–20 cm, axes puberulent to pilose; peduncle angular, 1–5 cm, puberulent to pilose. Pedicels articulated proximally, 3–5(–10) mm, glabrous or pubescent. Flowers: tepals ovate to elliptic, 4–8 × 2–6 mm, 8–20 × 4–15 mm in fruit, margins entire, apex acute. Achenes 8–12 × 4–7 mm, shiny. 2n = 14, 40, 42–44, 48.
Phenology: Flowering year-round.
Habitat: Cultivated and often persisting after abandonment, rarely escaping
Elevation: 0-600 m
Distribution
Introduced; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., S.C., Tex., Mexico, Central America, introduced in West Indies, Asia, Africa.
Discussion
Antigonon leptopus is cultivated widely as an ornamental in warmer parts of the world and is grown extensively in South America. In the flora region, it appears to have naturalized only in Florida and southern Texas; records from elsewhere probably represent plants that have persisted from cultivation. It propagates easily by cuttings and seeds, and the tubers are edible.
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa