Dioscorea cordata var. cymulifera (Uline ex Knuth) Raz, 2016

Raz, Lauren, 2016, Untangling the West Indian Dioscoreaceae: New combinations, lectotypification and synonymy, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 26-48 : 34

6a. Dioscorea cordata var. cymulifera (Uline ex Knuth) Raz , comb. nov.

Rajania cordata var. cymulifera Uline ex Knuth (1917: 220) . Type:— PUERTO RICO. Prope Maunabo, montis Malapasaca, 4 Oct. 1886, P. Sintenis 5217 ♂ (holotype B!, isotypes GH! (2 sheets), K!, US!). The sheets are annotated, presumably in Sintenis’ hand, as R. cordata var. scorpioides Uline , but no published reference exists to validate this name (see D. scorpioidea ).

Rajania hastata auct non L. in Kunth (1850: 450). Type— PUERTO RICO. Wydler 769 (holotype B). Although I haven’t seen the specimen, it is cited by Knuth (1924) among the exsiccatae of his Rajania cordata var. eucordata . The far more detailed description by Kunth (1850) is consistent with the variety named here.

Notes: Endemic to Puerto Rico. This variety may be distinguished from other forms of D. cordata by the following combination of characters: leaves papery, light green, the first pair of lateral primary veins (L1) strongly arcuate, raphids often present; staminate and pistillate inflorescences on slender axes, glabrous, the cymule architecture variable, cymes often (but not always) floriflorous (8–12 fls) and internodes frequently elongated, resulting in a more “open” architecture; flowers campanulate, tepals white or cream color (raphids +), oblong; stamens ca. 1/2 length of tepals: anthers minute, introrse, held just above the pistillode on slender filaments that are inserted on the tepals, just above the base; pistillode well developed, of three erect and confluent lobes. Torus not conspicuously swollen. Pollen ornamentation perforate-reticulate but with free ends of the murae projecting outward, giving the exine a tuberculate appearance. Samaras ca. 1 cm long, golden or straw colored. This variety is frequently associated with karst formations.