Amphilophium crucigerum(L.) L.G.Lohmann

monkey's-comb

WFO wfo-0000782449 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. a Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-05-01 / obs. 192821153
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Kahio Tiberio Mazon
fig. b Kahio Tiberio Mazon, CC0 1.0 / obs. 190911787
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. c Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201430727
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Kozue Kawakami
fig. d Kozue Kawakami, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 173666623
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Saban-Sequén, E.A.
fig. e Saban-Sequén, E.A., CC BY 4.0 / obs. 107782664
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. f Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 82940383
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Fernando Sessegolo
fig. g Fernando Sessegolo, CC0 1.0 / obs. 65109059
Amphilophium crucigerum, photographed by Tereso Hernández Morales
fig. h Tereso Hernández Morales, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 259006221

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 32 botanical countries

Regions where Amphilophium crucigerum is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela
Native distribution of Amphilophium crucigerum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 468 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 8.7 °C 14.9 °C 23.3 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 24.9 °C 30.1 °C 34.3 °C
Annual rainfall 876 mm 1,412 mm 3,147 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 14 mm 86 mm 426 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 468 research-grade observations of Amphilophium crucigerum that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 42 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Anisostichus crucigera (L.) Small
  • Bignonia botryoides Cham.
  • Bignonia catharinae DC.
  • Bignonia crucigera L.
  • Bignonia echinata Aubl.
  • Bignonia echinata Jacq.
  • Bignonia hexagona DC.
  • Bignonia lundii DC.
  • Bignonia muricata DC.
  • Bignonia phaseoloides Cham.
  • Bignonia squalus Vell.
  • Bignonia tiliifolia Kunth
  • Bignonia vitalba Cham.
  • Bignonia vitalba var. aequinoctialis Cham.
  • Bignonia vitalba var. extratropica Cham.
  • Neves-armondia cordifolia (Mart.) K.Schum.
  • Nevesarmondia cordifolia (Mart.) K.Schum.
  • Petastoma phaseoloides (Cham.) Miers
  • Pithecoctenium aubletii Splitg.
  • Pithecoctenium botryoides (Cham.) DC.
  • Pithecoctenium catharinae DC.
  • Pithecoctenium cordifolium Mart.
  • Pithecoctenium crucigerum (L.) A.H.Gentry
  • Pithecoctenium echinatum (Jacq.) Baill.

and 18 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol PICR3. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.