Pers., Synops. Pl. 2:423. 1807
Santa Maria
Dioecious, slender, arching shrub, to 3 (4) mtall; branches usually scandent; stems closely ribbed, sparselypubescent. Leaves alternate; petioles short, canaliculate;blades lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, acute to obtuse at base anddecurrent onto petiole, 3-10 cm long, 1.5-3.5 cm wide, usuallyalmost glabrous; veins at base 3. Inflorescences terminal oraxillary, of compact rounded corymbs at ends of branches; heads 5-7mm long, discoid, bearing many flowers; phyllaries in severalseries, ovate to oblong, the apex scarious and ciliate; receptacleconvex, conical, 1-2 mm wide, muricate; ray flowers lacking; diskflowers unisexual, greenish-white, with faint fragrance, the paleae2-4 mm long, deciduous; staminate flowers with the corolla thick,tubular, ca 3.5 mm long, equaling or exceeding pappus, deeply5-lobed, reflexed at anthesis, the stamens syngenesious, white,becoming slightly exserted, the style stout, the ovaryreduced, sterile; pistillate flowers with the corolla veryslender, ca two-thirds to three-fourths as long aspaleae, the lobes reduced to glandular trichomes, the styleslender, bifurcate near apex, almost equaling pappus. Achenesslender, sparsely to densely pubescent; pappus of many whitishbristles. Croat 7221.
Frequent at the edges of clearings and along theshore. Flowers and fruits throughout the year.
The flowers are visited by the bees Trigona cupiraand T. tataira.
Southern Mexico south to Argentina (but not eastto Venezuela). In Panama, widespread and ecologically variable;known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Colon,Veraguas, Los Santos, Herrera, and Darien, from premontane dryforest in Coclé from tropical dry forest in Los Santos,Herrera, Coclé and Panama, from premontane moist forest in theCanal Zone and Panama, from premontane wet forest in Colon,Chiriqui, Coclé and Panama, and from tropical wet forest inCoclé and Panama.
