''Paullinia paullinioides'' is a flowering plant species in the genus of ''

Paullinia ''Paullinia'' is a genus of flowering shrubs, small trees and lianas in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, native to tropical South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The genus is named after the German medical botanist Christian ...

'' found in South America. It was first described in 1895, by

Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer (19 December 1829, in Munich – 16 February 1927, in Munich), was a Bavarian taxonomist and botanist. Radlkofer became a physician in 1854 and earned a PhD in botany at Jena the following year. He became an asso ...

Description

''Paullinia paullinioides'' is a tropical liana. It has

trifoliolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

leaves with elliptic to ovate leaflets and fruit with spines long.

Distribution

''Paullinia paullinioides'' is found in the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It has also been observed in Venezuela.

Ecology

The species is host to the '' Muscodor vitigenus'' fungus that produces nearly pure naphthalene which acts as an

insect repellent An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray") is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellents help prevent and cont ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15527797 Plants described in 1895 Flora of the Amazon Flora of Colombia Flora of Peru Flora of Venezuela paulliniodes