''Thyrsanthella difformis'', the climbing dogbane, is a species of flowering plant in the

dogbane family Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...

. It is an uncommon to locally common deciduous low-growing woody vine native to the southeastern United States, found more often though not exclusively in moist habitats. ThyrsanthelladifformisLeavesFlower

Description

''Thyrsanthella difformis'' is a deciduous low-growing woody twining vine in the dogbane family. Its leaves are opposite, entire, acuminate, and have variable shape. White to creamy yellow flowers, lacking a corona, corolla lobes 3–4 mm long, appear May to July. Reddish fruit are follicles 10–25 cm long, 1–2 mm in diameter that appear July through September.

Identification

The variable leaf shape may make identification challenging in some cases, particularly if the narrow-leaf form is first encountered. Also, ''T. difformis'' may be confused with trumpet honeysuckle, alien japanese honeysuckle, or

carolina jessamine ''Gelsemium sempervirens'' is a twining vine in the family Gelsemiaceae, native to subtropical and tropical America: Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico ( Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo),confederate jasmine, formerly in the same genus, by the unassuming pale yellow flowers of the native species contrasting to the showy white flowers of the introduced vine.

Taxonomy

This species was traditionally included in the genus ''

Trachelospermum ''Trachelospermum'' Star Jasmine, Confederate Jasmine, is a genus of evergreen woody vines in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1851. All species are native to southern and eastern Asia. They have long stems climbi ...

''. Molecular and physical taxonomic evidence place it instead in the monospecific genus ''Thyrsanthella''. The specific name derives from the variable leaf shape.

Toxicity

One source reports that all parts of this plant are poisonous if ingested.

References

External links

eol Encyclopedia of Life

carolinensis The ''Anolis carolinensis'' series is a proposed clade or subgroup of closely related mid-sized trunk crown anoles () within the genus ''Anolis''. It was created by Nicholson ''et al''. in 2012 and defined as containing 13 species, a few examples ...

Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Apocynaceae-stub