Acalypha californica |
Acalypha alopecuroidea |
|
---|---|---|
California acalypha, California copperleaf, heirba del cancer, Pringle threeseed Mercury |
foxtail copperleaf |
|
Habit | Shrubs, 5–10 dm, monoecious. | Herbs, annual, 2–6 dm, monoecious. |
Stems | erect, hirsute and stipitate-glandular, becoming glabrate. |
erect, short-pubescent and stipitate-glandular. |
Leaves | persistent or drought-deciduous; petiole 0.5–2.5 cm; blade ovate to cordate, 1–5 × 0.5–4 cm, base truncate to rounded or cordate, margins serrate-crenate, apex acute or obtuse. |
petiole 0.5–7 cm, stipitate-glandular; blade ovate to broadly ovate, 2–8 × 1.5–5 cm, base rounded or subcordate, margins serrate, apex acuminate. |
Inflorescences | unisexual and bisexual, axillary and terminal; staminate peduncle 0.3–2.5 cm, fertile portion 1–4 cm; pistillate peduncle 0.4–3 cm, fertile portion 1–3 × 0.8–1.2 cm; bisexual similar to staminate, with 1–3 pistillate bracts near base; allomorphic pistillate flowers absent. |
unisexual, axillary (staminate) and terminal (pistillate); staminate peduncle 0.1–0.6 cm, stipitate-glandular, fertile portion 0.2–0.8 cm; pistillate peduncle 0.2–1 cm, stipitate-glandular, fertile portion 2–6 × 0.8–1.5 cm; allomorphic pistillate flowers common, terminal on pistillate or, rarely, staminate inflorescences. |
Pedicels | of allomorphic flowers 5–15 mm. |
|
Pistillate flowers | pistil 3-carpellate; styles multifid or laciniate. |
pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1(–2)-carpellate (allomorphic flowers); styles unbranched or rarely 2-fid. |
Capsules | smooth, pubescent and stipitate-glandular. |
smooth, pubescent and stipitate-glandular or glabrate; allomorphic fruits obovoid, 1–1.5 × 0.9–1.2 mm, muricate, hirsute. |
Seeds | 1.5–2 mm, minutely pitted. |
1–1.1 mm, minutely pitted. |
Pistillate | bracts loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts), 3–6 × 5.5–11 mm, abaxial surface pubescent, sessile- and stipitate-glandular; lobes (8–)10–18, rounded, 1/5 bract length. |
bracts (normal flowers) crowded (inflorescence axis not visible between bracts), 8–12 × 3–4 mm, abaxial surface long-hirsute (hairs to 2 mm) and stipitate-glandular; lobes 3–5, proximally deltate with linear tips, 3/4 bract length, smooth; of allomorphic flowers absent. |
2n | = 20. |
|
Acalypha californica |
Acalypha alopecuroidea |
|
Phenology | Flowering and fruiting year-round, especially spring and fall. | Flowering and fruiting late summer–fall. |
Habitat | Arid rocky slopes, desert washes. | Disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 10–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.) | 0–40 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora)
|
AL; FL; LA; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Plants in Arizona and Sonora have been segregated as Acalypha pringlei based on having long nonglandular hairs mixed with shorter hairs on the stem (versus hairs all of one length). This trait appears throughout the range of A. californica and cannot be used to distinguish two species (G. A. Levin 1995). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Acalypha alopecuroidea has been established in the United States since at least the 1950s. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 165. | FNA vol. 12, p. 167. |
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha | Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. pringlei | |
Name authority | Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 51. (1844) | Jacquin: Collectanea 3: 196. (1791) |
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