Flora of North America species comparison

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Acalypha californica

Acalypha wilkesiana

California acalypha, California copperleaf, heirba del cancer, Pringle threeseed Mercury

beefsteak plant, match-me-if-you-can, painted copperleaf, wilkes' acalypha
Habit Shrubs, 5–10 dm, monoecious. Shrubs, 20–50 dm, monoecious.
Stems

erect, hirsute and stipitate-glandular, becoming glabrate.

erect, sparsely to densely pubescent, not 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.

persistent;

petiole 1–6 cm;

blade ovate to broadly ovate or suborbiculate, 9–20 × 4–15 cm, base obtuse to rounded or subcordate, margins serrate-crenate, 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.

usually unisexual, rarely bisexual, axillary; staminate peduncle 0.1–1.5 cm, fertile portion 10–20 cm; pistillate peduncle 1–2 cm, fertile portion 4–15 × 0.5–0.8 cm;

bisexual similar to staminate, with 1–2 pistillate bracts near base;

allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.
Pistillate flowers

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.
Capsules

smooth, pubescent and stipitate-glandular.

unknown.
Seeds

1.5–2 mm, minutely pitted.

unknown.
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 loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts), 2–4 × 3–5 mm, abaxial surface sparsely to moderately pubescent;

lobes 7–9, ovate to lanceolate, 1/4 bract length, except terminal lobe to 1/2 bract length.
2n

= 20.

Acalypha californica

Acalypha wilkesiana
Phenology Flowering and fruiting year-round, especially spring and fall. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Arid rocky slopes, desert washes. Old home sites, disturbed areas.
Elevation 10–1400 m. (0–4600 ft.) 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Pacific Islands [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, n South America, se Asia, Africa]
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 wilkesiana is not known in the wild, but presumably originated in the southwestern Pacific Islands (Bismarck Archipelago east to Fiji). The species is commonly cultivated as an ornamental for its leaves that may be various shades of green, purple, red, orange, and yellow (sometimes variegated), and sometimes contorted into unusual shapes. Despite low seed set, it occasionally becomes naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas. Naturalized plants often lack the distinctive leaf coloration found in cultivated plants. Although sometimes treated as A. amentacea subsp. wilkesiana, DNA sequence data show that A. wilkesiana and A. amentacea are distinct species (V. G. Sagun et al. 2010).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 165. FNA vol. 12, p. 165.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha
Sibling taxa
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, 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
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, 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
Synonyms A. pringlei A. amentacea subsp. wilkesiana
Name authority Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 51. (1844) Müller Arg.: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 817. (1866)
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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