Flora of North America species comparison

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Achyranthes japonica

Japanese chaff-flower, oriental chaff flower
Habit Plants perennial.
Stems

0.75–1.5 m, glabrous or slightly pubescent.
Leaf

blades ovate-elliptic, 2.5–13.5 × 0.2–6.8 cm, base tapering, apex acute to acuminate, pubescent on veins abaxially, short-pubescent adaxially, varying to glabrous or glabrescent.
Inflorescences

2–4 cm in flower, elongating to 21 cm in fruit;

bracteoles spinose;

basal wings attached at base and sometimes slightly on sides.
Flowers

tepals 5, 4–5 mm;

pseudostaminodes with margins entire, denticulate, or slightly 2-lobed at apex.
Utricles

elliptic, 2.5 mm.

Achyranthes japonica
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Wooded riverbanks
Elevation 100-200 m (300-700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
KY; OH; WV; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The plants of Achyranthes japonica in our area evidently belong to var. hachijoensis Honda, which has glabrous or glabrescent leaves.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 437.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae > Achyranthes
Sibling taxa
A. aspera
Synonyms A. bidentata var. japonica
Name authority (Miquel) Nakai: Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 34: 39. (1920)
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).



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