Gelsemium sempervirens
Expos. Fam. Nat. 1: 338. 1805.
Leaves: petiole 2–5.1 mm, glabrous or scabridulous; blade lanceolate, elliptic, or ovate, 2–7 × 0.8–2.1 cm, base rounded to cuneate, apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate, abaxial surface glabrous or slightly scabridulous at base, adaxial surface glabrous. Pedicels bracteolate on distal 1/2. Inflorescences solitary flowers or cymes, 2- or 3-flowered. Flowers usually fragrant; sepals lanceolate, oblong, or ovate, 4.3–4.6 × 1.5–1.6 mm, apex obtuse to narrowly rounded, surfaces glabrous; pin flowers: tube 14–27 mm, lobes ovate to suborbiculate, 6.8–10 × 6.5–9.5 mm, surfaces glabrous; filaments 9.1–10.6 mm; anthers 3.9–4.1 mm; styles 12–22.3 mm; thrum flowers: tube 17–24 mm, lobes ovate to suborbiculate, 8.5–13 × 6.8–-12.1 mm, surfaces glabrous; filaments 19–22 mm; anthers 4–4.1 mm; styles 5–12.1 mm. Capsules 13–25 × 7–12 mm, beak 1–2 mm. Seeds unilaterally winged, 4.7–5.4 × 3.1–3.3 mm, wing 5–5.7 mm. 2n = 16.
Phenology: Flowering Mar–May (also sporadically in fall); fruiting Sep–Nov.
Habitat: Sandy maritime forests to dry upland forests to moist pine flatwoods to swamp forests, roadsides, thickets.
Elevation: 0–1900 m.
Distribution
Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz), Central America (Guatemala).
Discussion
Selected References
None.