Acalypha monococca |
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oneseed Mercury, slender threeseed Mercury |
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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 |
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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 |
AR; IL; KS; KY; LA; MO; OK; TX
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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 | |
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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