Turbina corymbosa

Nomenclature

Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication:

Turbina corymbosa (L.) Rafinesque, F1. telluriana4: 81. 1838

Synonyms:

Convolvulus corymbosus Linnaeus, S yst. nat. ed. 10,923. 1759; Sp. pl. ed. 2. 1: 225. 1762; Willd., Sp.pl. l(2): 873. 1798. Type: based on Burman, PI.Amer. Plum. t. 89, fig. 2 (chosen lectotype by Steam,1974, p. 7).

Ipomoea corymbosa (L.) Roth ex Roemer andSchultes, Syst. veg. 4: 232. 1819; Roth, Nov. pl.sp. 109. 1821, as to synonyms, not as to description.

Ipomoea burmanni Choisy in DC., Prodr. 9: 350.1845. Type: a new name for C. corymbosus L. nonJ. G. Forster (1786).

Rivea corymbosa (L.) H. Hallier, Bot. Jahrb. Syst.18: 157. 1893.

Legendrea corymbosa (L.) Ooststroom, Blumea 5:355, in note. 1943.

Convolvulus domingensis Desrousseaux in Lamarck, Encycl. meth.-Bot. 3: 554. 1792. Type: Saint-Domingue[Haiti], Mazure 99 (holotype P-JU, n.v.,IDC 6206. 469: 11. 5).

Ipomoea domingensis (Desr.) House, Muhlenbergia3: 38. 1907.

Convolvulus sidaefolius Kunth in H.B.K.. Nov. aen.sp. pl. 3: 78 [3:"99 in quarto ed.]. 1819. Type: in hortis insulae Teneriffae, prope Orotava (P, notfound); in Nova Andalusia, prope Cumana, Humboldt 1226 (lectotype here designated P, n.v., IDC6209.66: 111.6; isolectotype B-W!, IDC 7440.255:111. I)

Ipomoea sidaefolia (Kunth) Sweet, Hort. brit. ed. 2.372. 1830; Choisy, Mkm. Soc. Phys. Geneve 6:459. 1834 non Schrader (1 82 1).

Convolvulus multijlorus Kunth in H.B.K., Nov. gen.sp. pl. 3: 78. [3: 100 in quarto ed.]. 1819. Type: crescit in insulae Cuba, prope Havana, Mar.,Humboldt 1306 (holotype P, n.v., IDC 6209. 66:111. 7).

Convolvulus laevicaulis Willdenow ex Roemer and Schultes, Syst. veg. 4: 303. 18 19. Type: Venezuela, Cumana, Humboldt s.n. (holotype B-W!, IDC 7440.255: 111. 1; isotype P, n.v., IDC 6209. 66: 111. 6).

Convolvulus proliferus Willdenow ex Roemer and Schultes, Syst. veg. 4: 302. 1819. Type: 'America Meridionali' [Venezuela], Caracas, Humboldt s.n.(syntype B-W, n.v., IDC 7440. 255: 11. 1); cult. in Teneriffa, Willdenow s.n. (syntype B-W, n.v., IDC7440. 255: 11. 2).

Ipomoea cymosa Lindley in Edwards, Bot. Reg. 29:t. 24. 1843, as to plate, but not as to synonyms orthe greater part of the description.

Legendrea mollissima Webb and Berthelot, Phyt.Canar. 3: 27. t. 137. 1844. Type: Gran Canaria, Despreaux s.n. (holotype FI-Webb, n.v., photo!).

Rivea corymbosa var. mollissima (Webb and Berth.)H. Hallier, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 18: 157. 1893.

Legendrea corymbosa var. mollissima (Webb andBerth.) van Ooststroom, Blumea 5: 355, in note.1943.

Turbina corymbosa forma mollissima (Webb and Berth.) Steam, Cuad. Bot. Canaria 21: 12. 1974.

Description

Habit:

Lianas; stems twining and often several meters long, woody throughout most of length, but becoming herbaceous near the tips, glabrous or rarely somewhat pubescent; roots not seen.

Leaves:

Leaveson petioles 4-6 cm long, usually glabrous, the blades cordate-ovate, 4-1 0 cm long, 3-9 cm wide, basally cordate, apically acute to shortly acuminate,glabrous or less often pubescent, the secondaryveins often in 4-5 pairs.

Inflorescences:

Inflorescences either terminal on axillary branches or terminal, of compound cymes, the peduncles 15-25 cmlong, the bracts squamiform, deciduous, the pedicels 7-12 mm long, mostly glabrous.

Flowers:

Flowers with sepals subequal or the outer 2 slightly shorter,the outer 2 mostly 7-10 mm long, the inner 8-1 2 mm long, glabrous, the margins markedly scarious, mostly acute to obtuse apically; corollas campanulate, white with a dark brown to purplisharea in the lower part of the tube, 2.5-3 cm long, glabrous; stamens more or less equal, 13-15 mm long, the anthers 4-5 mm long, the filaments basally glandular pubescent with orangeor yellow-orange trichomes; ovary ovoid, glabrous, the style 13-1 6 mm long, the stigmas 2-globose.

Fruits:

Fruits ovoid-oblong, 10-1 5 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, apiculate, subtended by the accrescent sepals;

Seeds:

seeds mostly 1, less often 2, usually 8-1 1 mm long, ovoid, brown, finely puberulent with short, erect trichomes.

Author:

Daniel F. Austin & George W. Staples

References:

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 118, No. 3. (Jul. - Sep., 1991), pp. 265-280.

Biogeography, Ecology and Natural History

Distribution:

Turbina corymbosa has a vast range on the American continental mainland, from Mexico southward throughout Central America into South America as far as Bolivia and southern Brazil. It is also found throughout the West Indies, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Very likely its range is so broad due to transport and introduction by people.The species has been introduced as an ornamentalat a few places in the Old World tropicsas well.

Ecology:

This liana is found in numerous and diverse habitats including thorn scrub, thickets, savannahs, open woodlands, riverbanks, llanos, selva baja perturbada, selva baja caducifolia, swamps,dry hillsides, mountain forests, and dense river valley forests, at elevations ranging from sea levelto 1100 m (exceptionally 1450 m). It is often cultivated and frequently escapes near human habitations: on roadsides, in vacant lots, on fallow agricultural land, and in pastures. The substrate has been noted as granitic, swampy, coralrock, limestone, fertile, and 'slip' soil.

Phenology:

West Indies (including plants from Bermuda and the Bahamas)

Months	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Fruiting specimens	3	6	3		1		1			1
Flowering specimens	9	2	4	1		1	1		1		9	9

Middle America

Months	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Fruiting specimens	3	7	2	1				1			2	3
Flowering specimens	11	3	2			1		1	5	5	11	5

South America

Months

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Fruiting specimens

Flowering specimens

Author:

Daniel F. Austin & George W. Staples

References:

Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 118, No. 3. (Jul. - Sep., 1991), pp. 265-280.

Other information

General comments:

Turbina corymbosa is easily recognized among the neotropical species by its inflorescences with scale-like, deciduous bracts, containing smallish flowers with glabrous, campanulate corollas. The unequal sepals, with the outer two smaller than the inner three, and having hyaline margins, arealso distinctive. The corolla throat and limb vary in color from pure white to greenish-white, andthe inner base of the corolla tube varies from yellow to reddish to brown to a deep purpleblack.

Some collectors note that the sweetly scented flowers of this species are an important nectar source for bees (ex label Lundell 1092, Ekman 3399). Unsubstantiated reports from Cuba indicate that honey produced from the nectar of this species can have hallucinogenic effects on the consumers (Clavijo personal communication 1981), presumably due to the presence of ergoline alkaloids secreted into the enctar that pass unaltered in to the honey.

Turbina corymbosa is distinct from all other neotropical species of the genus by virtue of the characters mentioned above. Meeuse (1957) has noted already that in aspect it resembles the African taxon T. shirensis, which has now been removed to the genus Paralepistemon (Lejoly and Lisowski 1986). The relationships between the neotropical and African elements of Turbina sensu lato need more study.