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Cissus verticillata

(L.) Nicolson & C.E.Jarvis (1984)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Vitales Family: Vitaceae Genus: Cissus

princess vine

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Lianas, low to moderately high climbing, often scrambling over low vegetation.

Stems: Branches usually hairy, sometimes glabrous or glabrate, branchlets succulent to subsucculent when young, becoming woody, growing tips usually hairy, tendrils 2-branched. Bark adherent, pith white, continuous through nodes.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades oblong to ovate, 5–15 × 2–8 cm,. Surfaces usually hairy, sometimes glabrous. Margins unlobed, coarsely to finely serrate. Petioles shorter than blade.

Flowers: Flowers in corymb-like cymes; leaf-opposed. Flowers greenish or yellowish green. Calyx cup-shaped, indistinctly 4-lobed. Petals 4, distinct. Stamens 4. Ovary superior; style conic or cylindric, elongate.

Fruit: Berries black; 6–10 mm diam.

Ploidy: 2n = 48

Habitat:

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Accepted Subtaxa (in Hawai'i) (1)

Cissus verticillata subsp. verticillata

Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents

Water/Ocean
Birds

Pollinators

Bibliography

Name Published In: Taxon 33: 727 (1984)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Description Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
1 Cissus verticillata Lawai Valley. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden Vine around chalet. Preserved_Specimen Leaves dark, glossy green above, dull, paler below. Flowers pale yellow. Flynn, T.W. 1933 Kauai BISH 1986-11-12
2 Cissus verticillata Koloa District. South of Koloa, on the roadside of Hapa Road just north of St. Raphaels Church. Growing along ditch and trhoughout adjacent field. A smothering vine common around Koloa. Growing over Laucaena leucocephala and Megathyrsus maximus. Preserved_Specimen Twining vine with reddish stems and 2-forked tendrils; leaves tend to be arranged such that they are perpendicular to the ground with the cordate leaf bases pointing up, regardless of stem orientation. Pinnate venation high-relief, creating a quilted appearance; petals green; fruit green. Brock, K. 954 Kauai BISH 2017-03-07
3 Cissus verticillata Makiki Heights Dr., Tantalus and Nature Center Parking area, Oahu, Hawaii Growing in parking area over other vegetation. Preserved_Specimen Vine, small white clusters of flowers. Crago, L.M. 2005215.5 Oahu BISH 2005-11-01
4 Cissus verticillata Koloa, Hapa Rd. weedy roadside scrub, haole koa Preserved_Specimen vine, yellow inflorescence, tendrils Trauernicht, C. 192 Kauai BISH 2007-10-10
5 Cissus verticillata Makiki Forestry Nursery Covering tress. Preserved_Specimen Vine. Flowers a yellow-green color. Berries purple. Corn, C. Oahu BISH 1978-01-27
6 Cissus verticillata Lawai, on Lanoho Road just west of Lawai Cannery Lowland roadside residential area/secondary vegetation. Preserved_Specimen Smothering vine up to 40 feet in trees. OED 2010022305 Kauai BISH 2010-02-23
7 Cissus verticillata Stainback Highway, Mile 0-1, Puna District. Robust vine growing high in tree adjacent to road. Cultivated or possibly escaped. Preserved_Specimen Flowers greenish, fruits black. Pratt, L.W. 3409 Hawaii BISH 2005-04-07
8 Cissus verticillata Koloa District, Kalaheo, CA 0.3 MILE e OF JNC OF Lau`oho Rd and Waha Rd Roadside Preserved_Specimen Large vine, spreading, fruit black Wagner, W.L. 7045 Kauai BISH 2005-06-23
9 Cissus verticillata Koloa District; Hapa Road roadside W/ Ficus microcarpa, Ricinus communis. Leucaena leucocephala, Megathyrsus maximus, Clusia rosea, Furcraea foetida Preserved_Specimen Vine growing on Kula haole [koa haole?] with small round dark purple fruits; leaves folded inward slightly with the nation (veination?) impressed on top and visible in sunlight; underside of the leaf dull green and fuzzy top glossy yellow green. Tangalin, N. 5184 Kauai BISH 2021-06-25
10 Cissus verticillata Waimanalo, above town betw Kumuhau St and Kakaina St. Especially common along Mahaiula St. Covering moderate sized trees. Preserved_Specimen Large vines; stems tough and semi-woody with scaly bark, stems producing numerous long thin aerial roots that hang down through the foliage. Large leaves slightly fleshy when fresh. Flowers small, pale yellow, 1.5mm long x 1mm wide, petals united into small dome that comes off as a unit with the anthers in it, the anthers are not connected to the structure of the petals, style 1mm long, straight, nectary 4 lobed, fleshy 1mm wide, pale yellow, calyx 1.5mm wide x 1mm long, forming a fleshy, unlobed cupule, green. Fruits globose, shiny black when ripe, 8-10mm diameter; seeds tear drop shaped like a grape seed. Hobdy, R.W. 4956 Oahu BISH 2006-02-06
11 Cissus verticillata Stainback Hwy, South Hilo. UTM 2174901N, 283586E. Growing with Chrysalidocarpus lutescens. Preserved_Specimen Inflorescence axillary with small, white flowers, and large, dark, juicy fruits. Long, hairlike roots. Parker, J. 155 Hawaii BISH 2011-04-27
12 Cissus verticillata Tantalus Dr. ca 200m above the last house of the development Sunny roadside Preserved_Specimen Dominant smothering vine. Climbing trees to 10m at least, forming a thick canopy Faccenda, K. 1880 Oahu BISH 2021-05-22
13 Cissus verticillata Honolulu, 2749 Tantalus Drive, in back of house. Preserved_Specimen Vine spreading from across the road onto trees on the property, mixed with Dolichandra unguis-cati and Ipomoea obscura. Fruit bright green, maturing to dark blackish purple. Springer, L. Oahu BISH 2019-12-28
14 Cissus verticillata Koloa district; Kauai Coffee fields E of Lawai Valley, makai side of the main haul cane road. Coffee fields Preserved_Specimen Naturalized vine. stem pale yellowish-green; leaves medium green, matte above, dull pale green below; flowers faintly fragrant, buttery yellow; fruit ripening dark purple Shimatsu, J. Kauai BISH 2011-11-18
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