Accession Data

Flagellaria indica

Common Name: Supplejack, Whip vine

Family: Flagellariaceae

Country of Origin: S. Tanzania to Mozambique and W. Pacific

Description: Simple linear light green leaves have a base that encloses the stem and drawn out leaf tips that form narrow coiled tendrils. Has formless extrafloral nectaries that secrete nectar, mainly through stomata, in the leaf sheaths that are tightly pressed against the stem.


Plants perennial. Leaf sheath 2-7 cm; pseudopetiole 3-8 mm, abaxially flattened; leaf blade lanceolate to linear, 7-25 × 0.5-2 cm, base abruptly contracted, rounded, or slightly cordate. Panicles erect, irregularly branched, dense; bracts short, broad. Flowers small; tepals white, ovate to broadly so, 2--3 mm, thinly membranous. Stamens exserted. Ovary narrow. Drupes reddish when mature, globose, 4-6 mm in diam., smooth. Seeds 1(or 2). Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Sep-Nov.4

Uses: Aborigines had many uses for this vine, including using the astringent leaves to heal wounds. Tips (sap) applied to sore eyes and also used as contraceptive. Used as rope for tree climbing. Woven into fish traps and nets.

Accession Data

Accession #: 200500017

Accession Date: 2005-04-07 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 1118

Quantity: 1

Source: Joan Leonard - Ohio State

Culture: Difficult to propagate from cuttings, resents root disturbance and hard pruning.

Classification

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Subclass: commelinids

Order: Poales

Family: Flagellariaceae

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008

References

  1. Brisbane Rainforest Action & Information Network
  2. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Friday, July 21, 2017.
  3. WCSP (2016). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Friday, July 21, 2017.
  4. Flagellaria indica at Flora of China. Last accessed on Saturday, 22 December 2018.

Images

Flagellaria indica
Flagellaria indica Flagellaria indica