Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Acalypha poiretii

Acalypha deamii

Poiret's copperleaf

Deam's threeseed Mercury, largeseed Mercury
Habit Herbs, annual, 1–4 dm, monoecious. Herbs, annual, 3–7 dm, monoecious.
Stems

erect, pubescent and sparsely hirsute.

erect, glabrate.
Leaves

petiole 1–4.5 cm;

blade ovate to elliptic, 2–5 × 1–3.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins serrate-crenate, apex acute.

petiole 2.5–7 cm;

blade ovate to broadly rhombic, 4–12 × 2–7 cm, base obtuse, margins serrate, apex acute to acuminate.
Inflorescences

bisexual, axillary;

peduncle 0.1–0.5 cm, pistillate portion 2–4 × 0.8–1.2 cm (shorter on proximal inflorescences), staminate portion 0.3–1 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers common, terminal on staminate portion of inflorescences.

bisexual, axillary;

peduncle 0.1–0.6 cm, pistillate portion 0.8–1.5 × 1–2 cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.3–0.7 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers common, solitary in axils near base of stem.
Pedicels

of allomorphic flowers rudimentary.

of allomorphic flowers rudimentary.
Pistillate flowers

pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);

styles unbranched.

pistil 2-carpellate (normal flowers), 1-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);

styles multifid or laciniate.
Capsules

smooth, pubescent;

allomorphic fruits obovoid, 1.2–1.5 × 1–1.2 mm, muricate, pubescent.

smooth, pubescent;

allomorphic fruits obovoid, 2.5–3 × 1.8–2 mm, spiny, pubescent.
Seeds

1.2–1.5 mm, minutely pitted.

2.4–3.2 mm, shallowly pitted.
Pistillate

bracts (normal flowers) crowded (inflorescence axis not visible between bracts), 4–5 × 6–8 mm, abaxial surface pubescent and sparsely stipitate-glandular;

lobes 7–9, triangular, 1/5 bract length; of allomorphic flowers absent.

bracts (normal flowers) loosely arranged to crowded (inflorescence axis clearly to scarcely visible between bracts) or solitary, 8–16 × 11–20 mm, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent and usually stipitate-glandular;

lobes (5–)7–9, lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 1/2–3/4 bract length; of allomorphic flowers absent.

Acalypha poiretii

Acalypha deamii
Phenology Flowering and fruiting late summer–fall. Flowering and fruiting late summer–fall.
Habitat Disturbed areas. Moist bottomland woods, near streams or rivers, rarely in moist upland forests.
Elevation 10–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 100–400 m. (300–1300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; c Mexico; e Mexico; Central America (Guatemala) [Introduced West Indies, South America, Africa]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MD; MO; OH; PA; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acalypha poiretii is known in the flora area from the lower Rio Grande valley (Cameron, Hidalgo, and Starr counties). It was collected in the late nineteenth century on ballast dumps in Alabama, Florida, and New Jersey, but has not been reported again from any of these states.

Some authors (for example, R. Govaerts et al. 2000) have treated Acalypha poiretii and A. alnifolia Poiret as synonyms, in which case the latter would be the correct name for this species; however, the types of the two names clearly belong to different species.

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

Acalypha deamii strongly resembles robust individuals of A. rhomboidea but is generally restricted to moist bottomland woods. Some accounts state that the leaves of A. deamii droop; this characteristic is not consistent and cannot be used for identification.

The distribution of Acalypha deamii is probably not as patchy as collections suggest. It is frequently overlooked because it looks so much like the widespread and abundant A. rhomboidea and is difficult to recognize until fruits mature. Collections may also be limited because A. deamii shares its habitat with stinging nettles.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 169. FNA vol. 12, p. 170.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha
Sibling taxa
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, A. californica, A. chamaedrifolia, A. deamii, A. gracilens, A. monococca, A. monostachya, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, A. californica, A. chamaedrifolia, A. gracilens, A. monococca, A. monostachya, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. poiretii, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Synonyms A. macrostachyos A. virginica var. deamii, A. rhomboidea var. deamii
Name authority Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 3: 879. (1826) — (as poireti) (Weatherby) H. E. Ahles: in G. N. Jones and G. D. Fuller, Vasc. Pl. Illinois, 301. (1955)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers