Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Alternanthera sessilis

Alternanthera ficoidea

sessile joyweed

sanguina rea, sanguinaria
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

Alternanthera ficoidea
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.]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
[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.)

Varieties 3 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 450. FNA vol. 4, p. 449.
Parent taxa Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera Amaranthaceae > Alternanthera
Sibling taxa
A. brasiliana, A. caracasana, A. ficoidea, A. flavescens, A. maritima, A. paronychioides, A. philoxeroides, A. pungens
A. brasiliana, A. caracasana, A. flavescens, A. maritima, A. paronychioides, A. philoxeroides, A. pungens, A. sessilis
Subordinate taxa
A. ficoidea var. bettzickiana
Synonyms Gomphrena sessilis Gomphrena ficoidea
Name authority (Linnaeus) R. Brown ex de Candolle: Cat. Pl. Hort. Monsp., 77. (1813) (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois: Fl. Oware 2: 66. (1818)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers