Acalypha rhomboidea
Acalypha poiretii
common three-seed-Mercury, rhombic copper-leaf, rhombic or common threeseed Mercury, ricinelle rhomboïde
Poiret's copperleaf
usually erect, sometimes ascending, usually sparsely pubescent, rarely sparsely hirsute.
erect, pubescent and sparsely hirsute.
petiole 0.4–7 cm;
blade ovate to broadly rhombic, 2–9 × 0.8–5 cm, base obtuse, margins crenate to serrate, apex acute to acuminate.
petiole 1–4.5 cm;
blade ovate to elliptic, 2–5 × 1–3.5 cm, base obtuse to rounded, margins serrate-crenate, apex acute.
bisexual, axillary;
peduncle 0.1–0.6 cm, pistillate portion 0.7–1.5(–2) × 1–2(–2.5) cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.3–1 cm;
allomorphic pistillate flowers rare, solitary in axils near base of stem.
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.
of allomorphic flowers 1–2 mm.
of allomorphic flowers rudimentary.
pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);
styles multifid or laciniate.
pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);
styles unbranched.
smooth, pubescent;
allomorphic fruits obovoid, 2 × 1 mm, spiny, pubescent.
smooth, pubescent;
allomorphic fruits obovoid, 1.2–1.5 × 1–1.2 mm, muricate, pubescent.
(1.2–)1.5–1.7(–2) mm, minutely pitted.
1.2–1.5 mm, minutely pitted.
bracts (normal flowers) loosely arranged to crowded (inflorescence axis clearly to scarcely visible between bracts) or solitary, 6–15 × 9–23 mm, abaxial surface sparsely pubescent and stipitate-glandular;
lobes (5–)7–9(–11), lanceolate to triangular, 1/3–2/3 bract length;
bracts of allomorphic flowers absent.
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.
Acalypha rhomboidea
Acalypha poiretii
Acalypha rhomboidea often has been called A. virginica due to controversy about the typification of that name. Conservation of the type of A. virginica resolved the issue. This nomenclatural problem, combined with use of inappropriate characters to distinguish A. rhomboidea and A. virginica, has resulted in considerable confusion between these amply distinct species. The two can be distinguished most readily by the pistillate bracts, which are clearly hirsute abaxially in A. virginica but sparsely pubescent abaxially in A. rhomboidea. In addition, the bracts of A. virginica have (8–)10–14(–16) triangular lobes one fourth to one half the bract length, whereas those of A. rhomboidea have (5–)7–9(–11) lanceolate or triangular lobes one third to two thirds the bract length, and the stems of A. virginica usually are hirsute whereas the stems of A. rhomboidea are rarely so.
In the southern part of its range, many Acalypha rhomboidea plants have been confused with A. gracilens. These plants are more delicate than A. rhomboidea from farther north, with notably smaller pistillate bracts, and they usually produce allomorphic flowers, whereas more robust or northerly plants rarely do. They can be distinguished from A. gracilens by having relatively wider leaves and pistillate bracts with fewer lobes and no red sessile glands.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
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