Central Texas cyclanthera Central Texas cyclanthera

Stems glabrous except for minutely villosulous nodes; tendrils unbranched, less commonly 2-branched. Leaves 3-foliolate, lateral pair of leaflets deeply to nearly completely divided (appearing 5-foliolate), petiolules 1–3(–5) mm, terminal leaflet 3–7 cm, blade lanceolate to narrowly or broadly lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, petiolule 5–15 or in fascicles of 2–3. Staminate corollas 4.2–6.3 mm diam. Anther heads 1.4–2.2(–2.8) mm diam., subsessile, consistently ciliate with a ring of short, white hairs arising just inside thecal ring. Fruiting peduncles 10–30 mm. Capsules ovoid, barely oblique-gibbous or not, short-beaked, 15–25 mm, spinules 3–5 mm.

Flowering May–Oct. Canyons, rocky slopes, streamsides, riparian woods of elm-hackberry, sycamore, willow-cottonwood, juniper, oak-juniper, pinyon-oak-juniper, live oak, roadsides, open woods; 200–1800 m; Colo., Kans., Nebr., N.Mex., Okla., Tex.

Cyclanthera naudiniana is distinct in its short, few-flowered staminate inflorescence, relatively large corollas and anther heads, and relatively long fruiting peduncles. In Texas it is most abundant on the eastern edge of the Edwards Plateau.