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(Last Modified On 1/28/2013)
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(Last Modified On 1/28/2013)
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Species
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ALTERNANTHERA REPENS (L.) Gmel.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 132: 106. 1791.
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Synonym
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Achyranthes repens L. Sp. P1. 205. 1753. Alternanthera achyranth. Forsk. Fl. Aeg.-Arab. 28. 1755. Illecebrum achyrantha L. Sp. P1. ed. 2:299. 1762. Achyranthes mucronata Lam. Encycl. 1:547. 1785. Achyranthes radicans Cav. Anal. Ci. Nat. 3:27. 1801. Paronychia achyrantha Desf. Tabl. Bot. ed. 2:54. 1815. Pityranthus crassifolius Mart. Denks. Akad. Munch. 5:179. 1817. Alternanthera villiflora Scheele, in Linnaea 22:149. 1849. Alternanthera parvifiora Fawc. & Rendle, Fl. Jam. 3:139. 1914.
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Description
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Procumbent villous or glabrate perennials, the much branched stems up to 50 cm. long. Leaves appressed villous or glabrate, ovate to obovate, apically acute to rounded and mucronate, basally rounded to attenuate, 5-25 mm. long, 3-15 mm. broad; petioles 2-10 mm. long, often winged. Inflorescences of yellowish or stra- mineous usually cylindric heads, 5-12 mm. long, 4-8 mm. broad, sessile in the axils. Flowers perfect, the bracts and bracteoles subequal, 3-4 mm. long; sepals 5, trimorphic, the outer 2 broader, strongly 3-nerved, indurate, pilose below and with rigid awns, the third sepal narrower, shorter and merely acuminate, the inner 2 conduplicate; stamens 5, united below into a shallow tube, the pseudostaminodia entire or dentate, exceeded by the anthers; ovary obovoid, style 1, about as long as the minute capitate stigma. Fruit an indehiscent obcordate utricle, 1.2-1.5 mm. long; seeds reddish brown, 1-1.5 mm. broad, cochleate-orbicular.
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Distribution
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Presumably a native of tropical America, this weedy species is now also well established in Asia, Europe and the East Indies.
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Note
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Standley's recount of the distribu- tion (in N. Am. Flora 2 1:136. 1916) indicates that the species has been collected in Panama. It certainly is to be expected there. In the Yucatan the Mayas apply the name cabalxtez; in Guatemala the names sanguinaria, sacachiquim and hierba de toro are reported. This species is doubtfully distinct from A. pungens HBK., which differs in having subrotund leaves and longer less villous sepals.
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