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 radians

Acalypha gracilens

cardinal feather, cardinal's feather, palmate copperleaf

slender copperleaf, slender three-seed-Mercury
Habit Herbs or subshrubs, perennial, 1.5–4 dm, dioecious. Herbs, annual, 1–6 dm, monoecious.
Stems

prostrate to ascending, short-pubescent and hirsute.

erect, pubescent.
Leaves

petiole 0.4–1.6 cm;

blade reniform or suborbiculate, 0.5–1.5 × 0.8–2 cm, base cordate or rounded, margins deeply crenate, apex rounded.

petiole 0.2–1.2(–1.8) cm;

blade oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1.7–6 × 0.4–2 cm, base cuneate, margins serrate to crenate to subentire, apex obtuse to acute.
Inflorescences

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

staminate peduncle 0.5–3 cm, fertile portion 1–4(–5) cm;

pistillate peduncle 0.1–0.5 cm, fertile portion 1–2.5 × 0.8–1.2 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.

bisexual, axillary;

peduncle 0.1–0.6 cm, pistillate portion 0.7–1.3 × 0.8–1.5 cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.2–2.6 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.
Pistillate flowers

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles multifid or laciniate.
Capsules

smooth, pubescent and hirsute.

smooth, pubescent.
Seeds

1.8–2 mm, minutely pitted.

1.1–1.9 mm, minutely pitted.
Pistillate

bracts crowded (inflorescence axis not visible between bracts), 7–10 × 12–16 mm, abaxial surface hirsute, sessile- and stipitate-glandular;

lobes (7–)8–10(–13), spatulate, 1/2 bract length.

bracts loosely arranged to crowded (inflorescence axis clearly to scarcely visible between bracts) or solitary, 8–14 × 11–17 mm, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent, red sessile-glandular, and sometimes stipitate-glandular;

lobes (7–)9–13(–15), deltate, 1/10–1/4 bract length.

Acalypha radians

Acalypha gracilens
Phenology Flowering and fruiting spring–fall. Flowering and fruiting mostly summer–fall.
Habitat Grassy openings, dunes, and oak or mesquite woodlands, usually on deep sand. Pine and pine-oak woods, dry hardwood forests, glades, prairies, disturbed areas, usually on sand or shallow rocky soils.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 0–1100 m. (0–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Acalypha radians is found in the flora area from the Edwards Plateau south to the Mexican border.

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

Acalypha gracilens varies considerably throughout its range; some of the extremes have been named. The variation shows no discrete breaks and no infraspecific taxa warrant recognition (G. A. Levin 1999). Populations in central Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa have been alleged to be introduced, but they show slight morphological differences from other populations and appear to be native. Acalypha gracilens is introduced in Wisconsin. See 16. A. virginica for a discussion of the differences between A. gracilens and that species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 166. FNA vol. 12, p. 171.
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. poiretii, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
A. alopecuroidea, A. arvensis, A. australis, A. californica, A. chamaedrifolia, A. deamii, A. monococca, A. monostachya, A. neomexicana, A. ostryifolia, A. phleoides, A. poiretii, A. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. setosa, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Synonyms A. gracilens var. delzii, A. gracilens var. fraseri
Name authority Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 200. (1859) A. Gray: Manual, 408. (1848)
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