Rivina humilis L.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Petiveriaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Rivina humilis L.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Erect herb, to 1 m tall, branched along main stem; stems slender, angled to cylindrical, puberulent. Leaf blades with somewhat fetid smell, 3-10 x 2-4.5 cm, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, membranous to chartaceous, sparsely puberulent, the venation whitish, especially underneath, the apex acute or acuminate, the base unequal, obtuse-truncate, the margins entire; petioles 1.5- 4.5 mm long, puberulent; stipules wanting. Flowers white, in axillary racemes, with a pair of minute bracteoles at base; pedicels ca. 3 mm long. Tepals 4, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, nearly free to base, 2.2-2.5 mm long; stamens 4, alternating with the tepals, the filaments free, nearly equal; ovary superior, l-locular, the locule with a single basal ovule, the style distal, slightly curved, the stigma capitate. Fruit a globose red-orange or red fleshy drupe, 2-3.5 mm long, with persistent reflexed tepals at base.

  • Discussion

    Common names: cat's blood, jumbie pepper bush, pimba pepper, snake bush, stock ma hark

  • Distribution

    A common herb in the understory of coastal forests and adjacent areas. Chocolate Hole (A784), Great Cruz Bay (A2358). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; a common weed of tropical America.

    Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|