Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Dioclea hexandra (Ralph) Mabb.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: sea purse

Habit:  vine

Description:  "A large woody vine, the stems pilose with appressed or ascending hairs, or often glabrate; stipules lanceolate, produced at the base, 2 cm long; leaves long-petiolate, the leaflets petiolulate, ovate or elliptic, 8-15 cm long, 5-10 cm wide, abruptly short-acuminate, rounded at the base, lustrous above and almost glabrous, paler beneath, appressed-pilose, at least on the nerves, often glabrate; inflorescence rufous-tomentose, much longer than the leaves, the rachis stout, much enlarged at the nodes, the bracts lanceolate, reflexed, appressed-pilose, 1.5-2 cm long; bractlets ovate, about 2 mm long, persistent; pedicels 3 mm long; calyx appressed-pilose, the tube 7 mm long; petals violet, the standard 1.5 cm long; ovary 3-4-ovulate; legume compressed, 12-20 cm long, 6-7 cm wide, rufous-tomentose at first but in age almost glabrous, the upper suture with a broad costa on each side; seeds 2-4, the linear hilum half the circumference of the seed"  (Standley & Steyermark, 1946; p. 243).

Habitat/ecology:  "British Honduras, in wet forest near sea level" (Standley & Steyermark, 1946; p. 243).

Propagation:  Seeds (pods float).

Native range:  Tropical Africa and South America (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Yap (Waqab) Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 110)
Kiribati Tungaru (Gilbert) Islands	Tabiteuea Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 110) Drift seeds.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 110)
Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 66)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Indonesia Indonesia	Irian Jaya (West Papua) (Indonesia) (western New Guinea Island)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
India (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Andaman Islands	Andaman Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)
India (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Nicobar Islands	Nicobar Islands	native	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2005)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:  Additional online information about Dioclea reflexa is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Dioclea reflexa may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2005. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Standley, Paul C./Steyermark, Julian A. 1946. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part V. Chicago Natural History Museum. 502 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.