Alternanthera brasiliana
Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 537. 1891.
Common names: Brazilian joyweed
Introduced
Basionym: Gomphrena brasiliana Linnaeus Cent. Pl. II, 13. 1756
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Treatment on page 448.
Herbs or subshrubs, annual or perennial, 5–6 dm. Stems erect, villous, glabrate. Leaves sessile; blade ovate to lanceolate, 1–7 × 0.7–1 cm, herbaceous, villous. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, pedunculate; heads white, globose, 0.7–1 cm diam.; bracts keeled, shorter than to equaling tepals. Flowers: tepals monomorphic, green to stramineous, lanceolate, 3–4 mm, apex acuminate, villous, hairs not barbed; stamens 5; pseudostaminodes ligulate, margins fimbriate. Utricles included within tepals, brown, ellipsoid, 2 mm, apex acute. Seeds ovoid-oblong, 1.4 mm.
Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Sandy, wet, disturbed sites
Elevation: 0-10 m
Distribution
Introduced; Fla., Mexico, West Indies, Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), South America.
Discussion
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
None.