NameThatPlant.net: Matelea obliqua

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Matelea obliqua FAMILY Apocynaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Read more about Northern Spinypod at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Matelea obliqua FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-03-003:

Matelea obliqua FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)

Gonolobus obliquus

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Gonolobus obliquus

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)

Gonolobus shortii

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Odontostephana obliqua

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Odontostephana shortii

COMMON NAME:
Northern Spinypod, Limerock Milkvine, Climbing Milkvine

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Matelea obliqua, Northern Spinypod, Limerock Milkvine, Climbing Milkvine

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_viob2_001_lvd

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_vish3_001_lvd

Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_obliqua_climb

June Floyd County GA

Corolla lobes (3.2-) 4.0-6.2x as long as wide, the widest part at the sinus, per Weakley's Flora (2012).

COMPARE Anglepod and Spinypod (Climbing Milkweed)

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Matelea obliqua FAMILY Apocynaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Matelea obliqua FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 157-03-003:
Matelea obliqua FAMILY Asclepiadaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Gonolobus obliquus

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Gonolobus obliquus

INCLUDING Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950)
Gonolobus shortii

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Odontostephana obliqua

INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Odontostephana shortii

3308

Herbaceous vine (twining)
Perennial

Habitat: In forests, woodlands, or thickets over calcareous rocks, per Weakley's Flora

Native to North Carolina & Georgia

Rare (historically in NC Piedmont, but not recently seen)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has milky sap (latex)

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Follicle surface rough, with small sharp projections ("muricate")

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves cordate

FLOWER:
Summer
Rose/ Brownish-rose rarely cream
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed rotate corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Follicle

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"We treasure pictures and sculpture. We regard Attic temples and Roman triumphal arches and Gothic cathedrals as of priceless value. But we are, as a whole, still in that low state of civilization where we do not understand that it is also vandalism wantonly to destroy or permit the destruction of what is beautiful in nature, whether it be a cliff, a forest, or a species of mammal or bird. Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals — not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements." — Theodore Roosevelt

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