Flora of North America species comparison

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Alternanthera pungens

Alternanthera paronychioides

creeping chaffweed, khaki joyweed, khakiweed

smooth joyweed
Habit Herbs, perennial, 3–8 dm. Herbs, perennial, 1–8 dm.
Stems

prostrate, villous.

prostrate, 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 elliptic, ovate-rhombic, or oval, 0.6–2.5 × 0.3–1.1 cm, apex acute or obtuse, villous, soon 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, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam.;

bracts less than 1/2 as long as tepals.
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 monomorphic, white, lanceolate, 3–5 mm, apex acuminate, without rigid, spinose tips, hairs not barbed;

stamens 5;

anthers 3–5, globose;

pseudostaminodes ligulate, shorter than filaments, margins entire or dentate.
Seeds

lenticular, 1.3–1.5 mm.

lenticular, 1.2–1.5 mm.
Utricles

included within tepals, brown, compressed, 1.8 mm, apex truncate.

included within tepals, stramineous, orbiculate to rounded-obovate, 2–2.3 mm, apex truncate.

Alternanthera pungens

Alternanthera paronychioides
Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering spring–late fall, year-round in far south.
Habitat Waste grounds, cleared limestone areas Ballast ground, swamps, sandy places, limestone near salt water
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 0-10 m (0-0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; LA; NY; TX; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Pacific Islands [Introduced, Ala., Del., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.J., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex.]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Plants identified as Alternanthera paronychioides var. amazonica Huber have been collected on salt flats in central Louisiana. The specimens I have seen are not sufficiently distinct to warrant varietal recognition.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 450. FNA vol. 4, p. 450.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera
Sibling taxa
A. brasiliana, A. caracasana, A. ficoidea, A. flavescens, A. maritima, A. paronychioides, A. philoxeroides, A. sessilis
A. brasiliana, A. caracasana, A. ficoidea, A. flavescens, A. maritima, A. philoxeroides, A. pungens, A. sessilis
Synonyms Achyranthes leiantha Illecebrum ficoideum
Name authority Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 206. (1818) A. St.-Hilaire: Voy. Distr. Diam. 2: 439. (1833)
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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