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Flagellaria
Flagellaria indica
トウアズキ
A climbing perennial herb native to Southeast Asia and Pacific islands, found wild in coastal forests of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Leaf tips are modified into tendrils that grasp other plants. Stems are slender but tough with bamboo-like nodes, once used for basket weaving.
Identification Points
- ✓Leaf tips modified into elongated spiral tendrils
- ✓Climbing habit, clinging to other plants
- ✓Stems are circular in cross-section with nodes (resembling grasses)
Habitat
Coastal forests and forest edges of the Ryukyu Islands
Season
Year-round (evergreen)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Growth form
Vine
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Parallel
Leaf margin
Entire
Petal count
6 petals
Petal fusion
Free
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Ovary position
Superior
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Positionトウツルモドキ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Monocots > Poales > Flagellariaceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene
Evolution Notes
Flagellariaceae is a monotypic family at the base of Poales, a rare example of a climbing monocot. Leaf-tip tendrils represent a convergent evolutionary trait not seen in grasses.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification