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bladderflower, cruel vine, moth plant, white bladderflower

Stems

to 12 m.

Leaves

petiole 0.4–5 cm, eglandular-pubescent;

blade hastate, deltate, oblong, or ovate, 0.8–14 × 0.2–6.4 cm, base truncate to cordate, surfaces glabrous to eglandular-pubescent.

Inflorescences

peduncle 0.4–4.3 cm, eglandular-pubescent.

Pedicels

0.4–1.4 cm, eglandular-pubescent.

Flowers

sepals green, ovate, leaflike, 8–15 × 3–7 mm, surfaces eglandular-pubescent;

calycine colleters absent;

corolla white or light pink, funnelform, tube 12.1–15.9 × 5.5–9.8 mm, abaxial surface eglandular-pubescent, adaxial surface glabrous except eglandular-pubescent at base, lobes 6.4–9.6 × 4.5–5.4 mm, abaxial surface eglandular-pubescent, adaxial surface glabrous;

gynostegial corona of 5 distinct staminal elements, revolute, oblong or quadrate, 2.5–3.9 × 1–2 mm, not fused into tube, not obscuring gynostegium, glabrous;

style-head extension 2-fid, 3.5 mm.

Seeds

brown, 5–7 × 2–3 mm;

coma 2.2–5.2 cm.

Follicles

4.2–12.5 × 1.6–5.7 cm, minutely eglandular-pubescent.

2n

= 20.

Araujia sericifera

Phenology Flowering summer–fall; fruiting fall–winter.
Habitat Chap­arral, woodlands, citrus groves, urban/suburban dis­turbed sites.
Elevation 100–400 m. [300–1300 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; South America [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Central America, Europe, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The naturalization of Araujia sericifera in the flora area has been substantiated only for Arizona and California, although it has also been reported for Georgia (J. T. Kartesz, http://www.bonap.org/MapSwitchboard.html). A recent risk assessment estimates that about one-third of the United States presents suitable habitat for the species (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service [U.S.D.A.] 2012).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Apocynaceae > Araujia
Sibling taxa
A. odorata
Name authority Brotero: Trans. Linn. Soc. London 12: 62, plates 4, 5. (1818) — (as sericofera)
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