Pisonia aculeata
Pisonia capitata
cockspur, devil's-claw, garabato prieto, old-hook, pull-and-hold-back, pullback
Mexican devil's-claws
velvety when young, glabrate later.
arching, velvety when young, glabrate later.
blades ovate to obovate, 2–10 × 2–7 cm, base cuneate, apex subacute, glabrate.
blades broadly obovate or suborbiculate, 2–6 × 2–6 cm, base rounded or broadly cuneate, apex rounded, rarely subacute.
staminate inflorescences subglobose, dense, 1–3 cm diam.; pistillate inflorescences subglobose at anthesis, more open in age;
branches divaricate or ascending; fruiting pedicel 0.5–2 cm.
[staminate inflorescences subglobose, dense, 1–2 cm diam.]; pistillate inflorescences densely subglobose at anthesis, more open in age;
branches divaricate or ascending; fruiting pedicel 0.5–2 cm.
perianth of staminate flowers yellowish green, broadly campanulate, 2–3 mm, densely and shortly viscid-villous;
perianth of pistillate flowers greenish, often blushed with red, 2–3 mm, puberulent.
[perianth of staminate flowers deep red, broadly campanulate, 2–3 mm, densely and shortly viscid-villous];
perianth of pistillate flowers greenish, often blushed with red, 2–2.5 mm, densely puberulent.
clavate, 7–10 × 3–4 mm, densely puberulent between glandular ribs, glands extending entire length of fruits.
clavate, 7–10 × 3–4 mm, densely puberulent between glandular ribs, glands extending entire length of fruits.
or shrubs, to 3 m;
vines subscandent, woody;
branches spreading at right angles, armed with stout, recurved spines 6–20 mm.
Pisonia aculeata
Pisonia capitata
Pisonia aculeata is nearly pantropical, found throughout the New World tropics and is considered introduced in Africa, Asia, and the Phillipines, but in the flora area it reaches only to the lower Rio Grande valley and southern Florida. It is closely allied with the less widely distributed Pisonia capitata, and there appears to be no distinction between pistillate plants of the two species. A. L. Bogle (1974) discussed the possible presence of Pisonia aculeata var. macranthocarpa in the flora.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Pisonia capitata is represented in the flora by a single, possibly clonal, population of a few pistillate plants in south-central Arizona several hundred kilometers north of known populations in Sonora, perhaps originating from a freak event of bird dispersal. Plants are not known to have set seed.
As noted above, pistillate plants of Pisonia capitata and P. aculeata exhibit no apparent differences, nor are there apparent vegetative differences between the species. That plants known in the flora truly represent P. aculeata is an assumption based on geography.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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