Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Don

Global description

Hippobroma longiflora is a small herbaceous plant with vivacious stump, erect, measuring from 50 to 70 cm in height. The stem is angular and little branched covered by stiff hairs and more or less winged by the decurrence of the base of the leaves. It is a plant which produces a lot of white latex (very toxic). The simple and sessile leaves, are arranged in rosette at the base then alternate along the stem. The blade is elliptic to oblanceolate, from 10 to 20 cm long and 1 to 3 cm wide. The blade is more or less hirsute carrying stiff hairs particularly along the nerves and the margin. The margin is irregularly and coarsely toothed to lobed with a mucron at the end of the lobes. The top is pointed, mucronate, the base is gradually attenuated into a false petiole, decurrent along the stem. The flowers are solitary, in the axil of the leaves and carried by a peduncle from 6 to 8 mm long, pubescent. They are very characteristic: the calyx of sepals fused at the base in an obconical tube, pubescent and ending in 5 long narrow lobes, more or less erect, 10 to 22 mm long and 1 mm wide, the corolla with 5 white petals, fused at the base in a long narrow tube from 5 to 13 cm long, pubescent with white hairs then ending at the top in 5 elongated oblong lobes from 15 to 18 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide, well spread out, 5 glabrous stamens with anthers coming out just from the top of the corolla tube. The fruit is an oblong to obovoid capsule of 15 mm long and 9 mm in diameter, pubescent bivalve with brown ovoid seeds, reticulated of 0,5 mm.

Origin

Hippobroma longiflora is native to the Caribbean.

Worldwide distribution

This species has been introduced and naturalized in Central America and tropical South America, in the islands of the Indian Ocean (Comoros, Mayotte, Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius), in India, in South East Asia and in the north of Australia (Queensland).

https://www.gbif.org/fr/species/3168943