Friday, January 31, 2014

Byttneria aspera(刺果藤 ● Spiny-fruited vine)

Byttneria aspera is a large climber commonly found all over Hong Kong. It could be easily identified by its cordate leave base. It usually occupies forest margins and places that are covered by large boulders. The plant is relatively uncommon in heavily shaded areas. In spring to summer, large amount of small white/red flowers will emerge. After the flowers, spiny fruits is produced by the plant in summer. These round and spiny fruits are capsules that will break open when ripe, exposing the seeds. I suspect the the seeds might depend on wind dispersal (anemochory) since the spines on the fruit seems unfavorable to mammals and the color of the fruits seems unfavorable to birds. The photos below show the fruits of the plant found in July. I originally have some photos of the flowers of the plant but it is kind of lost in my computer so that's the best I could do.




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