Alternanthera pungens |
Alternanthera caracasana |
|
---|---|---|
creeping chaffweed, khaki joyweed, khakiweed |
washerwoman |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 3–8 dm. | Herbs, perennial, 1–5 dm. |
Stems | prostrate, villous. |
prostrate to procumbent, villous, glabrate. |
Leaves | sessile; blade oval to obovate, usually as broad as long, 1.3–3 × 1.1–1.7 cm, apex rounded, pilose, glabrate. |
sessile; blade rhombic-ovate, oval, or obovate, usually longer than broad, 0.5–2.5 × 0.3–1.5 cm, apex rounded, apiculate, sparsely villous, glabrate. |
Inflorescences | axillary, sessile; heads stramineous, globose to ovoid, 0.6–1 × 0.6–0.7 cm; bracts equaling tepals, apex attenuate. |
axillary, sessile; heads white to stramineous, ovoid, 0.5–0.8 × 0.4–0.6 cm; bracts shorter than tepals, apex long-attenuate, aristate. |
Flowers | tepals dimorphic, stramineous, lanceolate, 5–7 mm, apex acuminate, spinose tipped, sparsely villous, hairs barbed; stamens 5; anthers 3–5, globose; pseudostaminodes triangular, shorter than filaments, margins dentate. |
tepals dimorphic, whitish to stramineous, lanceolate, 3–5 mm, apex acuminate, spinose tipped, densely villous, hairs barbed; stamens 5; pseudostaminodes triangular or subulate, shorter than filaments, margins usually entire, rarely dentate. |
Seeds | lenticular, 1.3–1.5 mm. |
ovate-orbiculate, 1–1.5 mm. |
Utricles | included within tepals, brown, compressed, 1.8 mm, apex truncate. |
included within tepals, brown, ovoid-orbicular, 1.5 mm, apex slightly truncate. |
Alternanthera pungens |
Alternanthera caracasana |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering summer–fall. |
Habitat | Waste grounds, cleared limestone areas | Gravel, sand bars, sidewalks |
Elevation | 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) | 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; LA; NY; TX; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America]
|
AL; AR; AZ; CA; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NM; OK; SC; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America [Introduced in North America]
|
Discussion | Alternanthera pungens was long known as A. repens (Linnaeus) Link, a later homonym of A. repens J. F. Gmelin. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 450. | FNA vol. 4, p. 451. |
Parent taxa | Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera | Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Achyranthes leiantha | A. peploides |
Name authority | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 206. (1818) | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 205. (1818) |
Web links |