American melonleaf American melonleaf

Bryonia americana Plumier ex Lamarck in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 1: 498. 1785; Cayaponia americana var. angustiloba Cogniaux; C. americana var. subintegrifolia Cogniaux

Vines herbaceous. Stems sulcate, glabrous; tendrils unbranched. Leaves: petiole 1–5 cm, glabrous; blade ovate to deltate or pentagonal, unlobed or shallowly to deeply 3–5-lobed, 5–14 × 5–13 cm, terminal lobe oblong-lanceolate, broadest at base, lateral lobes often sublobed, base cordate to truncate or rounded, margins remotely serrulate or denticulate, surfaces hirsute-hispidulous abaxially (not white-sericeous), pustulate-scabrous adaxially. Flowers: sepals deltate to triangular, 1–2 mm; petals pale green to whitish, corolla 6–10 mm; pistillate flowers solitary, axillary, or 3–5 on short racemoid branches, staminate flowers solitary, axillary. Fruits usually 1, axillary, or 3–5 on racemoid branches, orange to golden brown, short ellipsoid-cylindric, 1.5–2 cm; peduncle 8–15(–30) mm. Seeds usually 3, 10 mm.

Flowering May–Aug. Rockland hammocks, hammock edges and clearings; 0–20 m; Fla.; West Indies.

Cayaponia americana is known in the flora area only from Miami-Dade County. The leaf blades are darker and thicker than those of C. quinqueloba, and peduncle length is greater in C. americana.