Acalypha rhomboidea
Acalypha wilkesiana
common three-seed-Mercury, rhombic copper-leaf, rhombic or common threeseed Mercury, ricinelle rhomboïde
beefsteak plant, match-me-if-you-can, painted copperleaf, wilkes' acalypha
usually erect, sometimes ascending, usually sparsely pubescent, rarely sparsely hirsute.
erect, sparsely to densely pubescent, not glandular.
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.
persistent;
petiole 1–6 cm;
blade ovate to broadly ovate or suborbiculate, 9–20 × 4–15 cm, base obtuse to rounded or subcordate, margins serrate-crenate, apex acuminate.
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.
usually unisexual, rarely bisexual, axillary;
staminate peduncle 0.1–1.5 cm, fertile portion 10–20 cm;
pistillate peduncle 1–2 cm, fertile portion 4–15 × 0.5–0.8 cm;
bisexual similar to staminate, with 1–2 pistillate bracts near base;
allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.
of allomorphic flowers 1–2 mm.
pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1-carpellate (allomorphic flowers);
styles multifid or laciniate.
pistil 3-carpellate;
styles multifid or laciniate.
smooth, pubescent;
allomorphic fruits obovoid, 2 × 1 mm, spiny, pubescent.
unknown.
(1.2–)1.5–1.7(–2) mm, minutely pitted.
unknown.
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 loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts), 2–4 × 3–5 mm, abaxial surface sparsely to moderately pubescent;
lobes 7–9, ovate to lanceolate, 1/4 bract length, except terminal lobe to 1/2 bract length.
Acalypha rhomboidea
Acalypha wilkesiana
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 wilkesiana is not known in the wild, but presumably originated in the southwestern Pacific Islands (Bismarck Archipelago east to Fiji). The species is commonly cultivated as an ornamental for its leaves that may be various shades of green, purple, red, orange, and yellow (sometimes variegated), and sometimes contorted into unusual shapes. Despite low seed set, it occasionally becomes naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas. Naturalized plants often lack the distinctive leaf coloration found in cultivated plants. Although sometimes treated as A. amentacea subsp. wilkesiana, DNA sequence data show that A. wilkesiana and A. amentacea are distinct species (V. G. Sagun et al. 2010).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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