Flora of North America species comparison

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Alternanthera sessilis

sessile joyweed
Habit Herbs, annual or perennial, 2–6 dm.
Stems

procumbent, pubescent in lines, glabrate.
Leaves

sessile;

blade elliptic to oblong or oblanceolate, 1.2–5 × 0.5–2.2 cm, apex obtuse to acute, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary, sessile;

heads white, subglobose or ovoid, 0.5–1.1 cm;

bracts keeled, ca. 1/2 as long as tepals.
Flowers

tepals white, ovate to lanceolate, 2–3.5 mm, apex acuminate, hairs not barbed;

stamens 5;

anthers 3–5, globose;

pseudostaminodes subulate, margins laciniate.
Seeds

lenticular, 0.9–1.1 mm.
Utricles

included within tepals, sides exerted in mature fruit, greenish stramineous, obcordate, 1.3–1.7 mm, apex retuse.

Alternanthera sessilis
Phenology Flowering summer–early fall.
Habitat Wet disturbed areas
Elevation 0-20 m (0-100 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
Mexico; South America; West Indies; Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama); Africa; Asia [Introduced, Ala., Fla., Ga., La.]
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Alternanthera sessilis is reported from Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas, but I have seen no specimens from these states.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 450.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera
Sibling taxa
A. brasiliana, A. caracasana, A. ficoidea, A. flavescens, A. maritima, A. paronychioides, A. philoxeroides, A. pungens
Synonyms Gomphrena sessilis
Name authority (Linnaeus) R. Brown ex de Candolle: Cat. Pl. Hort. Monsp., 77. (1813)
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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