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round copperleaf

Habit Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–4 dm, monoecious or dioecious (staminate plants rare).
Stems

prostrate to ascending, short-pubescent and hirsute.

Leaves

petiole 0.5–2.5 cm;

blade orbiculate or reniform, 0.7–2.5 × 0.8–2.5 cm, base cordate or rounded, margins shallowly crenate, apex rounded.

Inflorescences

unisexual or bisexual, terminal (staminate, pistillate, and bisexual) and axillary (pistillate);

staminate peduncle 0.8–3 cm, fertile portion 1–4 cm;

pistillate peduncle 0.4–1.5 cm, fertile portion 1–2 × 0.8–1.2 cm;

bisexual similar to staminate, with 1–3 pistillate bracts near base;

allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.

Pistillate flowers

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.

Capsules

smooth, pubescent.

Seeds

1.5–1.8 mm, minutely pitted.

Pistillate

bracts crowded (inflorescence axis not visible between bracts), 6–8.5 × 8–12 mm, abaxial surface hirsute, sessile- and stipitate-glandular;

lobes (8–)10–12(–14), rounded, 1/4 bract length.

Acalypha monostachya

Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–fall.
Habitat Dry, open, rocky, gravelly, or sandy areas.
Elevation 0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acalypha hederacea, the name most frequently used for these plants in the United States, and A. monostachya, commonly used for Mexican plants, were thought to differ in sexuality and staminate inflorescence length, but plants throughout Mexico and Texas show no consistent differences among populations and should be treated as a single species (G. A. Levin 1999b).

In the flora area, Acalypha monostachya is widespread in central and southern Texas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 166.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha
Sibling taxa
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, A. californica, A. chamaedrifolia, A. deamii, A. gracilens, A. monococca, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. poiretii, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Synonyms A. hederacea
Name authority Cavanilles: Anales Hist. Nat. 2: 138, plate 21, fig. 3. (1800)
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