Acalypha ostryifolia
Acalypha monostachya
hophornbeam copperleaf, pineland threeseed Mercury
round copperleaf
erect, pubescent, sparsely hirsute, and stipitate-glandular.
prostrate to ascending, short-pubescent and hirsute.
petiole 1.5–6.5 cm;
blade ovate, 3–8 × 1.5–5 cm, base cordate, margins serrate, apex acute to short acuminate.
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.
unisexual, axillary (staminate) and terminal (pistillate; sometimes on short lateral branches, appearing axillary);
staminate peduncle 0.5–1.5 cm, fertile portion 0.5–3.5 cm;
pistillate peduncle 0.1–1 cm, fertile portion 3–7 × 0.7–1 cm;
allomorphic pistillate flowers common, near apices of pistillate 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.
of allomorphic flowers rudimentary.
pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1(–3)-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);
styles multifid or laciniate.
pistil 3-carpellate;
styles multifid or laciniate.
spiny, pubescent;
allomorphic fruits obovoid, 2 irregular flanges near apex, 2–2.2 × 1.6–1.8 mm, smooth, pubescent.
smooth, pubescent.
1.6–2 mm, tuberculate.
1.5–1.8 mm, minutely pitted.
bracts (normal and allomorphic flowers) loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts), 3–6 × 6–8 mm, abaxial surface pubescent (hairs to 0.3 mm) and sparsely stipitate-glandular;
lobes (9–)13–17, linear, 2/3 bract length, muricate.
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 ostryifolia
Acalypha monostachya
J. Torrey [in W. H. Emory 1857–1859, vol. 2(1)] reported Acalypha ostryifolia (as A. caroliniana Elliott) from New Mexico on the basis of Bigelow s.n., collected near "the Copper Mines" in Grant County. Although no specimen has been located by the author and this is the only report of this species from New Mexico, it is to be expected in the southwestern part of the state. It was collected in the late nineteenth century in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but has not been collected there since.
Acalypha ostryifolia may not be native to the northern part of its range. Specimen collection dates suggest that the species is spreading northward, and in much of its range it is found primarily in areas with human disturbance.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
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