Acalypha virginica
Acalypha wilkesiana
Virginia copperleaf, Virginia three-seed-Mercury
beefsteak plant, match-me-if-you-can, painted copperleaf, wilkes' acalypha
usually erect, sometimes ascending, pubescent and usually hirsute.
erect, sparsely to densely pubescent, not glandular.
petiole 0.3–7 cm;
blade narrowly rhombic to broadly lanceolate, 1–8(–11) × 0.5–3(–4) cm, base acute, margins 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 × 1.3–1.7 cm or pistillate bract solitary, staminate portion 0.3–1(–1.8) cm;
allomorphic pistillate flowers absent.
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.
pistil 3-carpellate;
styles multifid or laciniate.
pistil 3-carpellate;
styles multifid or laciniate.
smooth, pubescent.
unknown.
(1.2–)1.5–1.6(–1.8) mm, minutely pitted.
unknown.
bracts loosely arranged to crowded (inflorescence axis clearly to scarcely visible between bracts) or solitary, 6–13 × 9–20 mm, abaxial surface hirsute and sometimes stipitate-glandular;
lobes (9–)10–14(–16), triangular, 1/4–1/2 bract length.
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 virginica
Acalypha wilkesiana
Acalypha virginica overlaps geographically with A. rhomboidea but is more frequently found in grassy or prairielike habitats. See the discussion of 15. A. rhomboidea for notes on the nomenclatural and taxonomic confusion associated with these species.
Acalypha virginica and A. gracilens can sometimes be difficult to distinguish, especially when young. They can generally be distinguished by the pistillate bracts, which in A. virginica are hirsute and lack red sessile glands abaxially and in A. gracilens are sparsely pubescent and bear some red sessile glands abaxially.
Reports of Acalypha virginica from states other than those listed here are based on misidentifications.
(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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