Jacquemontia is a genus of flowering vines and shrubs in the morning glory family Convolvulaceae, placed in the order Solanales. Described by the Swiss botanist Jacques-Denys Choisy in 1833, the genus currently encompasses approximately 120–160 species recognised by taxonomic authorities. Members of the genus are commonly called clustervines, a name that reflects their tendency to bear dense clusters of small, funnel-shaped flowers that closely resemble those of their better-known relatives in the family, such as morning glories (Ipomoea) and bindweeds (Calystegia).
Clustervines are predominantly found in tropical and subtropical regions, with their greatest diversity centred in the Americas; species also occur in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. They typically grow as twining or trailing vines, occasionally as erect or sprawling sub-shrubs, colonising open, disturbed habitats, coastal scrub, roadsides, and forest margins. The flowers are usually blue, violet, or white, with five fused petals forming a shallow bell or funnel, and are borne in cymose clusters on slender peduncles.
Several species have limited natural ranges and face conservation pressure from habitat loss. Jacquemontia reclinata (beach clustervine), native to a small stretch of coastal Florida, is a federally listed endangered species in the United States. Other species, such as Jacquemontia havanensis (Havana clustervine), are widely distributed across the Caribbean and Florida.
Etymology
The genus name Jacquemontia honours Victor Jacquemont (1801–1832), a French naturalist and traveller who collected plants in India before his early death. The name was applied by the Swiss botanist Jacques-Denys Choisy when he described the genus in 1833.
Distribution
Jacquemontia is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, with its centre of diversity in the Americas — from the southeastern United States and the Caribbean south through Central and South America. Scattered species occur in tropical Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Most species favour open, disturbed, or coastal habitats.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was established by Choisy in 1833 in Mémoires de la Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève (vol. 6, p. 476). It belongs to the tribe Jacquemontieae within Convolvulaceae. The name Jacquemontia Bél. (applied to a different organism) is a separate, unrelated taxon; only Jacquemontia Choisy applies to this flowering-plant genus. GBIF currently recognises approximately 158 species in the backbone.
