Passiflora telesiphe is a species of flowering plant in the family Passifloraceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.[1]
Passiflora telesiphe | |
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at Kew Gardens | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Passifloraceae |
Genus: | Passiflora |
Species: | P. telesiphe |
Binomial name | |
Passiflora telesiphe S.Knapp & Mallet | |
This is a vine with slender branches. The three-lobed leaves are up to 8 by 11 centimeters. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green, sometimes mottled with white, and the underside is purple. The flowers are solitary or paired with purple-tinged white petals. The filaments are white or purplish and are up to 2.6 centimeters long. The fruit has not been observed.[2] This species is a member of the subgenus Decaloba.[2]
This plant was first formally described in 1998, when it was discovered in Ecuador five years earlier during an observation of local butterflies by naturalists. A male telesiphe longwing (Heliconius telesiphe) was noted hovering about a plant, and the eggs and pupa of the species were found on it. The new plant was then named after the butterfly.[2]
So far this plant is known only from Zamora-Chinchipe Province. It is found in low Andean forest habitat at elevations of 1700m.[1]
Taxon identifiers |
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