// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Paullinia fuscescens say? Vine to meet you.
| Paullinia fuscescens | |
|---|---|
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| Paullinia fuscescens red fruits and leaves | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Sapindaceae |
| Genus: | Paullinia |
| Species: | P. fuscescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Paullinia fuscescens | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Synonymy
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Paullinia fuscescens, with no English name other than moldy bread and cheese used for several species, is a woody vine occurring from Mexico and the Caribbean into northern South America. It belongs to the family Sapindaceae.[1]
Description
[edit]Paullinia fuscescens is recognized by these features:[2][3][4]
- It is a woody vine climbing up to 7 m (23 ft) by means of spiraling tendrils which often arise in pairs from atop the inflorescence's peduncle. Smaller branches bear yellow hairs and when wounded produce a milky sap.
- Leaves up to 7 cm long (2¾ inch) arise individually along the stem and are divided into nine leaflets arranged in three groups, i.e. they are biternate. The leaflet margins are shallowly and somewhat irregularly toothed, the blade tips are blunt and the bases gradually narrow to their attachment point.
- Inflorescences arise singly from leaf axils reaching 15 cm long (~6 inches).
- Flowers are mostly dioecious, but mingled with a few flowers of the opposite sex or a few with both male and female parts; they are "polygamodioecious". They have five sepals, four petals which are white or yellowish, and eight stamens.
- Fruits are three-angled or three-winged capsules up to 2 cm long producing one to three seeds. When ripe they turn red or orangish.
Taxonomy
[edit]Paullinia fuscescens is one of many taxa first scientifically collected by Aimé Bonpland and Alexander von Humboldt on their exploratory American Expedition of 1799-1804, plant collections from which were made available for publication to the German botanist Carl Sigismund Kunth. Kunth's 1821 Latin description of Paullinia fuscescens says that it grew on the banks of the Amazon River.[5]
Etymology
[edit]The genus name Paullinia is a New Latin name honoring the Danish botanist Simon Paulli.[6]
The species name fuscescens is from the Latin fuscescens, meaning "becoming dark",[7] possibly referring to the brownish branchlets and partially dark-haired petioles, which Kunth described in Latin as "fuscescentibus" and "fuscescenti-hirti", respectively.[5]
Distribution
[edit]Paullinia fuscescens occurs in Mexico except for the dry northern parts, the Mexican Plateau and other high elevations; it is also found in the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America including Ecuador.[8]
Habitat
[edit]In the Caribbean, Paullinia fuscescens occurs in disturbed areas and lower elevations.[4] In Honduras it has been collected in a sea-level pine forest with grass.[9] In the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, it inhabits low-growing forests sometimes flooded with water, and various kinds of tropical forests experiencing extended dry seasons.[10]
Ecology
[edit]Larvae of the tomato orange banner butterfly Temenis laothöe liberia prefer to feed on Paullinia fuscescens. It is speculated that by feeding on this species, known to be used to stun or paralyze fish by inhibiting their respiration, making them easier to catch, the larva's body accumulates enough toxin to cause it to be avoided by predators.[11]
Human uses
[edit]In construction
[edit]In Mexico, the tough stems of Paullinia fuscescens are used for binding fences and the frameworks of huts.[2]
In traditional medicine
[edit]In Mexico's Jalisco state, decoctions of stem sections of Paullinia fuscescens are taken orally for kidney problems.[12]
However, seeds of Paullinia fuscescens are reported to be slow-acting but deadly poisonous, allegedly having been employed as a method of killing criminals.[13] Also, citing reports of Paullinia fuscescens used as an insecticide, researchers in Venezuela found that an extract using methanol made from stem sections of the species caused strong antibacterial activity and a cytotoxic effect on a species of brine shrimp.[14]
In traditional fishing
[edit]Crushed stems of Paullinia fuscescens may be placed in water as a narcotic to anesthetize fish, making them easier to catch.[11]
Gallery
[edit]
Inflorescences
Flowers
Leafy, flowering branch dangling from a tree
Immature fruits
Mature capsular fruits splitting apart
Compound biternate leaf
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References
[edit]- 1 2 "Paullinia fuscescens Kunth". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- 1 2 Standley, Paul C.; Blake, S.F. (1923). "Trees and Shrubs of Mexico (Oalidaceae-Turneraceae)" (PDF). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 23 (3). Washington, DC, USA: Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution: 517–848. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Paullinia fuscescens Kunth". panamabiota.org (in Spanish). Washington, DC, USA: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- 1 2 Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro (2005). "Vines and Climbing Plants of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands" (PDF). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 51. Washington, DC, USA: National Museum of Natural History: 370 and 371. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- 1 2 Bonpland, Aimé; Humboldt, Alexander von; Kunth, Karl Sigismund (1821). Nova genera et species plantarum:quas in peregrinatione ad plagam aequinoctialem orbis novi collegerunt /descripserunt, partim adumbraverunt Amat. Bonpland et Alex. de Humboldt; ex schedis autographis Amati Bonplandi in ordinem digessit Carol. Sigismund. Kunth (in Latin). Vol. 5. Ex officina Christophori Plantini. p. 120.
- ↑ "paullinia noun". merriam-webster.com. online: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
- ↑ Bray, D.J. (2020). "Black Rabbitfish, Siganus fuscescens (Houttuyn 1782)". Fishes of Australia. Victoria, Australia: Museums Victoria. Retrieved March 27, 2026.
- ↑ "Paullinia fuscescens Kunth". catalogueoflife.org. Catalogue of Life. February 13, 2026. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ Wunderlin, R.P.; Hansen, B.F.; Franck, A.R.; Essig, F.B. (2025). "Paullinia fuscescens". Atlas of Florida Plants. Tampa, FL, USA: University of South Florida. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ "Taxón: Paullinia fuscescens Kunth". Flora de La Península de Yucatán (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- 1 2 Muyshondt, Alberto (September 1974). "Notes on the Life Cycle and Natural History of Butterflies of El Salvador. V.A. Pyrrhogyra hypsenor (Nymphalidae-Catonephelinae)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 82 (3): 163–172.
- ↑ Molina Castañeda (June 2014). Plantas medicinales en el Mercado Libertad, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México (PDF). Thesis for Licenciado en Biología (in Spanish). Las Agujas, Zapopán, Jalico, México: Universidad de Guadalajara.
- ↑ Beck, Hans T. (1990). "A Survey of the Useful Species of Paullinia L. (Sapindaceae)". Advances in Economic Botany. 8. New York, NY, USA: The New York Botanical Garden: 41–56. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
- ↑ Castillo, Diamela; Lanza, José G.; Crescente, Oscar (2010). "Identificación preliminar de algunos constituyentes del tallo de Paullinia fuscescens (Sapindaceae) y actividad biológica" (PDF). Avances en Química (in Spanish). 5 (1). Mérida, Venezuela: Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad de Los Andes: 57–61. Retrieved March 26, 2026.