return to: checklist; keys; key 5; family Verbenaceae
Woody vine; leaves opposite, simple, oblong to obovate, base obtuse, margin entire, apex rounded, rough-surfaced (like sandpaper); flowers in arching racemes from the leaf axils; speals purple, persistent, fading to pale violet with age; petals purple.
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Native to Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, this handsome liana is now cultivated as an ornamental throughout the tropics. Listed as an important source of pollen and/or nectar for bees (Souza Novello 1981).