Matelea biflora
Matelea obliqua
star milkvine, two flower matelea, two-flower milkvine
climbing milkvine, limerock milkvine
4–10, decumbent, often branched near base, 7–40 cm, hirsute with long eglandular and minute glandular trichomes.
1(–5), twining, 100–300 cm, hirsute with eglandular and inconspicuous glandular trichomes.
1 or 2 colleters on each side of petiole;
petiole 0.5–2.5 cm, hirsute with long eglandular and minute glandular trichomes;
blade ovate to deltate, 0.8–5 × 0.6–3.2 cm, base shallowly to deeply cordate, with 0–2 laminar colleters, apex acute (rounded), surfaces hirsute with long eglandular and minute glandular trichomes, especially so on veins abaxially.
with 2 colleters on each side of petiole;
petiole 1–7 cm, hirsute with eglandular and inconspicuous glandular trichomes;
blade ovate to oblong or elliptic (lanceolate, orbiculate), 3.5–15 × 2–13 cm, base shallowly to deeply cordate, with 2–4 laminar colleters, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces hirsute with eglandular and inconspicuous glandular trichomes.
solitary, umbelliform, extra-axillary, sessile or subsessile, 1–2-flowered.
solitary or paired, umbelliform (rarely compound), extra-axillary, pedunculate, 5–15(–20)-flowered;
peduncle 1–9 cm, hirsute with eglandular and inconspicuous glandular trichomes.
3–11 mm, hirsute with long eglandular and minute glandular trichomes.
5–40 mm, hirsute with eglandular and inconspicuous glandular trichomes.
calyx lobes spreading, oval to ovate, 1.8–2.5 mm, apex rounded or acute, hirsute with long eglandular and minute glandular trichomes;
corolla maroon to dark brown, not reticulate, rotate-campanulate, tube 1–1.5 mm, lobes spreading, ovate to narrowly deltate to spatulate, 3–6 mm, margins usually reflexed, pilose to hirsute adaxially;
corona united to corolla and column near base, composed of 5 united segments forming a ring at base, each with an adaxial incurved appendage arching above or incumbent on anthers, equaling or exceeding style apex, maroon to dark brown, 1–1.5 mm, glabrous;
apical anther appendages white, maroon to brown at base, broadly deltoid;
style apex rounded, flat.
calyx lobes spreading, elliptic to ovate (narrowly deltate), 2–4.5 mm, apex acute to acuminate, hirsute with eglandular and inconspicuous glandular trichomes;
corolla pale maroon to yellowish green tinged with maroon abaxially, pink, reddish, or maroon (green, cream, or orange), with a cream to rose ring at base of corona adaxially (ring sometimes absent), not reticulate, rotate-campanulate to campanulate, tube 0.5–1.5 mm, lobes erect to spreading, twisted (coiled), oblong to linear, 8–16 mm, margins reflexed to plane, minutely hirtellous with glandular and eglandular trichomes abaxially, glabrous adaxially;
corona united to column near base, nearly circular, of 5 united, very fleshy segments, each with 2 lateral lobes at apex equaling or exceeding medial lobe, forming a sheath that equals style apex, adaxial appendages incurved, incumbent on anthers, sometimes concealed when corolla lobes erect, cream to rose to maroon, 1–2 mm, 5 mm diam., glabrous;
apical anther appendages bright white with maroon patch at base, truncate;
style apex cream to rose to maroon, pentagonal, flat.
tan to light brown, oval to nearly orbicular or ovate, 8–11 × 7–10 mm, margins broadly winged, chalazal end erose, faces minutely rugose;
coma 2.5–4 cm.
brown, ovate (orbicular), 7–9 × 4–6 mm, margins broadly winged, chalazal end entire, faces rugose;
coma 2.5–3.5 cm.
not striate, ellipsoid to ovoid, 4.5–8.5 × 1.8–3.5 cm, apex acute, densely muricate (more than 1 protrusion per cm of length), villous to hirsute with long eglandular and minute glandular trichomes.
not striate, lance-ovoid, 10–15 × 1.5–3 cm, apex acuminate, moderately muricate, sparsely and minutely hirsute.
, herbaceous.
Matelea biflora
Matelea obliqua
Matelea biflora is occasionally found in grasslands and savannas of the southern Great Plains. It is most common on and around the Edwards Plateau of central Texas, where it occurs in grass-dominated habitats including disturbed areas. The range extends mostly northward and westward of that region to central Oklahoma and extreme eastern New Mexico (Lea County), where the species is much less common. Its conservation status in New Mexico merits evaluation. The plants are covered in short, glandular hairs and are malodorous when touched. The flowers occur most often in pairs, hence the common name two-flowered milkvine.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Matelea obliqua has a wide range across the Appalachian Mountains and Cumberland and Allegheny plateaus, extending into the Ohio River Valley and upper Gulf Coastal Plain, but it is common only in a few local areas. It is most common in Kentucky and Tennessee and locally in Madison County, North Carolina. The range barely enters several states, where M. obliqua is uncommon and is (or should be) considered to be of conservation concern, especially in Alabama (Calhoun and Madison counties) and Georgia (Catoosa and Floyd counties). Records outside the documented range are based on misidentifications pertaining to M. carolinensis or M. decipiens. Typically, M. obliqua can be distinguished by reddish purple to reddish brown corollas (versus maroon to purple in those species), with long, narrow, twisted corolla lobes. The most reliable character is the thick corona ring that has a diameter greater than in any other species of the eastern United States spinypods.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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