Flora of North America species comparison

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Acalypha gracilens

slender copperleaf, slender three-seed-Mercury
Habit Herbs, annual, 1–6 dm, monoecious.
Stems

erect, pubescent.
Leaves

petiole 0.2–1.2(–1.8) cm;

blade oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1.7–6 × 0.4–2 cm, base cuneate, margins serrate to crenate to subentire, apex obtuse to acute.
Inflorescences

bisexual, axillary;

peduncle 0.1–0.6 cm, pistillate portion 0.7–1.3 × 0.8–1.5 cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.2–2.6 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.
Pistillate flowers

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.
Capsules

smooth, pubescent.
Seeds

1.1–1.9 mm, minutely pitted.
Pistillate

bracts loosely arranged to crowded (inflorescence axis clearly to scarcely visible between bracts) or solitary, 8–14 × 11–17 mm, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent, red sessile-glandular, and sometimes stipitate-glandular;

lobes (7–)9–13(–15), deltate, 1/10–1/4 bract length.

Acalypha gracilens
Phenology Flowering and fruiting mostly summer–fall.
Habitat Pine and pine-oak woods, dry hardwood forests, glades, prairies, disturbed areas, usually on sand or shallow rocky soils.
Elevation 0–1100 m. (0–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acalypha gracilens varies considerably throughout its range; some of the extremes have been named. The variation shows no discrete breaks and no infraspecific taxa warrant recognition (G. A. Levin 1999). Populations in central Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa have been alleged to be introduced, but they show slight morphological differences from other populations and appear to be native. Acalypha gracilens is introduced in Wisconsin. See 16. A. virginica for a discussion of the differences between A. gracilens and that species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 171.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha
Sibling taxa
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, A. californica, A. chamaedrifolia, A. deamii, A. monococca, A. monostachya, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. poiretii, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Synonyms A. gracilens var. delzii, A. gracilens var. fraseri
Name authority A. Gray: Manual, 408. (1848)
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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