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oneseed Mercury, slender threeseed Mercury

Habit Herbs, annual, 1–4 dm, monoecious.
Stems

erect, pubescent.

Leaves

petiole 0.2–1(–1.2) cm;

blade linear-lanceolate to linear, 1.7–6(–7) × 0.3–1.2 cm, base cuneate, margins usually subentire, sometimes shallowly serrate, apex acute.

Inflorescences

bisexual, axillary;

peduncle 0.1–0.6 cm, pistillate portion 0.6–1.2 × 0.8–1.5 cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.1–2.5 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.

Pistillate flowers

pistil 1-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.

Capsules

smooth, pubescent.

Seeds

1.6–2.4 mm, shallowly pitted.

Pistillate

bracts loosely arranged to crowded (inflorescence axis clearly to scarcely visible between bracts) or solitary, 8–13 × 11–16 mm, abaxial surface sparsely to densely pubescent, red sessile-glandular, and rarely stipitate-glandular;

lobes (7–)9–13(–17), deltate, 1/10–1/4 bract length.

Acalypha monococca

Phenology Flowering and fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Pine and oak woods, prairies, barrens, on sandy or shallow rocky soils.
Elevation 80–600 m. (300–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; IL; KS; KY; LA; MO; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Even when fruits have dehisced, Acalypha monococca is easily distinguished from A. gracilens and all other species in the genus by its curved, needlelike columellae.

(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. gracilens, A. monostachya, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. poiretii, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Synonyms A. gracilens var. monococca, A. gracilens subsp. monococca
Name authority (Engelmann ex A. Gray) Lillian W. Miller & Gandhi: Sida 13: 123. (1988)
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