Spermacoce felis-insulae

Spermacoce felis-insulae Correll

Common Names: Borreria felis-insulae

Family: Rubiaceae

Habit: Spermacoce felis-insulae grows as a perennial up to 25 cm in height spreading to form mats.  The leaves are arranged oppositely with triangular stipules between the petioles.  The recurved leaves are linear up to 1 cm long (typically shorter), with an acute leaf apex and an entire margin. The leaves are slightly plicate forming a keel like appearance.

The complete, perfect, actinomorphic, solitary flowers occur in the leaf axils and terminate branches. A stipular sheath subtends the flowering “head”. The calyx has 4 unfused, triangular sepals.  The corolla has 4 fused pubescent white petals that form a short, puberlent tube and each recurved lobe with a mucronate apex.  There are 4 stamens that are fused to the perianth forming a hypanthium. The ovary is inferior with 1 locule and many ovules.  The fruit is a capsule at maturity.

Habitat: Spermacoce felis-insulae grows in Dunes.

Distribution: Spermacoce felis-insulae is a single island endemic occurs on two small sand spits at the south western end of Cat Island.

Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage: Spermacoce felis-insulae is not known to be used medicinally in the Lucayan Archipelago.

It is Redlisted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a Critically Endangered species.