Flora of North America species comparison

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Acalypha australis

Asian copperleaf
Habit Herbs, annual, 3–6 dm, monoecious.
Stems

erect, densely to sparsely pilose.
Leaves

petiole 0.5–4 cm;

blade ovate to broadly lanceolate, 2–8 × 1.5–4 cm, base cuneate to obtuse, margins serrate, apex acute to short-acuminate.
Inflorescences

bisexual, axillary;

peduncle 0.5–4(–6) cm, pistillate portion 1–2 × 1.5–2.5 cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.5–3 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers rare, when present replacing staminate part of inflorescence.
Pedicels

of allomorphic flowers rudimentary.
Pistillate flowers

pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 2-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);

styles multifid or laciniate.
Capsules

muricate, pubescent;

allomorphic fruits obovoid, 2 × 1.2 mm, muricate, pubescent.
Seeds

1.5–1.8 mm, minutely pitted.
Pistillate

bracts (normal flowers) loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts) or solitary, 10–15(–20) × 8–12 mm, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent;

lobes 12–15, rounded, 1/20 bract length; of allomorphic flowers absent.

Acalypha australis
Phenology Flowering and fruiting late summer–fall.
Habitat Disturbed areas.
Elevation 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
NJ; NY; Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan); Pacific Islands (Philippines) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acalypha australis, native to eastern Asia, became established in metropolitan New York City in the 1980s. It was also collected once in 1900 in Oregon (Suksdorf 2892, GH), and apparently has not persisted there.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 169.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha
Sibling taxa
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. californica, A. chamaedrifolia, A. deamii, A. gracilens, A. monococca, A. monostachya, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. poiretii, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1004. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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