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Cuban copperleaf

Habit Herbs, annual, 3–5 dm, monoecious.
Stems

erect, sparsely pubescent.

Leaves

petiole 1–7 cm;

blade ovate, 2.5–10 × 1.5–8 cm, base broadly obtuse to rounded or truncate, margins serrate, apex acuminate.

Inflorescences

unisexual, axillary (staminate) and terminal (pistillate; sometimes on short lateral branches, appearing axillary);

staminate peduncle 0.5–0.7 cm, fertile portion 0.5–1.5 cm;

pistillate peduncle 0.1–0.5 cm, fertile portion 3–12 × 0.7–1 cm;

allomorphic pistillate flowers common, near apices of pistillate inflorescences and mixed with flowers in staminate inflorescences.

Pedicels

of allomorphic flowers rudimentary.

Pistillate flowers

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

styles multifid or laciniate.

Capsules

smooth, sparsely pubescent;

allomorphic fruits oblate ellipsoidal, longitudinally ridged, an irregular flange on each side, 1.4–1.7 × 1.5–2 mm, smooth, puberulent.

Seeds

1.2–1.4 mm, minutely pitted.

Pistillate

bracts (normal flowers) loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts), 5–7 × 3–4 mm, abaxial surface glabrous;

lobes 7–9(–13), linear, nearly bract length, muricate; of allomorphic flowers on pistillate inflorescences like those of normal flowers, on staminate inflorescences absent.

Acalypha setosa

Phenology Flowering and fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Disturbed areas.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; c Mexico; s Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion

Acalypha setosa, indigenous from Mexico to northern South America and the West Indies, was first introduced to the United States in the late 1800s and now occurs sporadically through the southeastern states.

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

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 168.
Parent taxa 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. radians, A. rhomboidea, A. virginica, A. wilkesiana
Name authority A. Richard: in R. Sagra, Hist. Fis. Cuba 11: 204. (1850)
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