Field of Science

ID quiz of unknown specimen

OK not exactly a quiz, but more of a plea for some help.  About a century ago Mrs. Joseph Clemens collected this specimen in Sonoma Mexico in 1911, and that is all that is certain.  The specimen is in pretty good shape, but it is hard to ID.  The first thought that came to mind was that this was some kind of bladder pod because the fruits look ovoid and were clearly inflated before being pressed.  Note that the specimen has small coiled tendrils, and some smallish flowers.  TPP has not yet taken the more drastic action of removing a flower and rehydrating it for examination.  Thought it might be worth while to try the readers for some recognition first.  Thanks for your help. Leave your suggestions, observations, species names in the comments.


 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate trying to identify anything from a virtual specimen or photo and even more from a part of the world that I just do not know.....my best suggestion( = guess) would be a species of Cardiospermum ?

But if the specimen on the bottom left is a fruit, then this suggestion is obviously wrong. My initial impression was of a Physalis or related,but I do not know of any climbing species.

Interested to know your final ID.

Boa Sorte
BrianO

The Phytophactor said...

Cardiospermum! First thought, I'm liking this suggestion. It fits in several respects including the tendrils, the size of the flowers, the fruits, and the young leaves tending toward being highly dissected. I'll have to think about this some more, but you may have done the Phactor a big - I wasn't thinking in that direction at all.