Boerhavia diffusa
Boerhavia intermedia
red spiderling, spreading hogweed
fivewing spiderling
decumbent, ascending, or erect, usually profusely branched throughout, 3–10 dm, glabrous or minutely pubescent basally, glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally.
usually erect or ascending, occasionally decumbent, moderately or profusely branched primarily distally, 2–6 (–8) dm, minutely puberulent with bent hairs basally, glabrous or minutely puberulent distally.
mostly in basal 1/2 of plant;
larger leaves with petiole 10–30 mm, blade broadly lanceolate, ovate, or broadly ovate, occasionally ± round, 20–60 × 15–50 mm (distal leaves smaller, often proportionally narrower), base truncate, broadly cuneate, round, or shallowly cordate, often oblique, margins sinuate, apex obtuse to round, abaxial surface paler than adaxial, glabrous or minutely puberulent, sometimes glandular, usually with few large multicellular hairs on veins, adaxial surface glabrous, rarely sparsely puberulent, neither surface punctate.
mostly in basal 1/2 of plant;
larger leaves with petiole 7–25 mm, blade broadly ovate or oval to lanceolate, 20–45 × 7–16 mm (distal leaves smaller, sometimes longer, proportionately narrower), adaxial surface usually glabrous, occasionally glandular-puberulent, often minutely punctate, abaxial surface paler than adaxial, glabrous or glabrate, usually punctate with small patches of reddish or brownish cells, base round, obtuse, or truncate, margins entire or slightly sinuate, apex acute, obtuse, or round.
terminal, forked ca. 3–6 times ± equally, diffuse, occasionally with sticky internodal bands;
branches divergent, terminating in compact subumbellate or capitate, 2–5-flowered clusters.
terminal, forked ca. 3–6 times ± evenly (or clearly unevenly), diffuse, usually with sticky internodal bands;
branches strongly ascending, terminating in umbels or flowers borne singly, occasionally subumbellate (all pedicels not attaching at same point), rarely irregularly compound umbels.
pedicel shorter than 0.5 mm;
bract at base of perianth quickly deciduous, 1, lanceolate, 0.8–1 mm;
perianth purplish red to reddish pink or nearly white, campanulate beyond constriction, 1–1.5 mm;
stamens 2–3, included or barely exserted.
pedicel 0.5–3.2 mm;
bracts at base of perianth quickly deciduous, (1–)2, narrowly lance-acuminate, 0.5–1 mm;
perianth whitish to pale pink or purplish, campanulate distal to constriction, 0.7–1.2[–2] mm;
stamens 2–3, included or barely exserted.
(1–)2–5(–9) per cluster, gray-brown to brown, obpyramidal, (3–)3.5–4.5 × 1–1.2 mm (l/w: 2.8–4.1), apex broadly conic, with sparse or moderately dense stipitate-glandular hairs on ribs, less densely pubescent or glabrous in sulci [rarely entirely glabrous];
ribs 5, round, smooth;
sulci ± 2–2.5 times as wide as base of ribs, not rugose, not papillate.
1–15 per cluster, straw colored or gray-brown, obconic, broadly low conic, 2–2.8(–3.2) × 0.7–1.3 mm (l/w: 1.7–3.2), apex nearly truncate, glabrous;
ribs (4–)5, acute, slightly rugose or undulate near sulci;
sulci 0.2–1 times as wide as base of ribs, coarsely transversely rugose, smooth or very faintly papillate.
= 26, 52, 54, 116.
= 52, ca. 54.
Boerhavia diffusa
Boerhavia intermedia
Boerhavia diffusa belongs to a pantropical complex whose distribution, because of differing taxonomic treatments, is not precisely discernable. In North America, the West Indies, and elsewhere, the complex has been treated as having one (e.g., R. W. Long and O. Lakela 1971; R. P. Wunderlin 1998) or two species (E. A. Kellogg 1988; J. K. Small 1913c; P. C. Standley 1918; C. Whitehouse 1996). In the latter situation various binomials have been used. The abrupt bend in the ribs near the fruit apex, making a broadly conic apex, seems to be a useful character for distinguishing most B. diffusa. The shape of the apex, the sparse pubescence of the fruit, the few fruits in individual terminal clusters, and the open, ± leafless inflorescence may have led R. E. Woodson Jr. and H. J. Kidd (1961) to suspect hybridization of this complex with the annual B. erecta. Hybridization is plausible (R. Spellenberg 2000), but clearly intermediate plants are not known.
The leaves are sometimes used as a vegetable (C. Whitehouse 1996). Extracts from roots are used to prepare an expectorant, a diuretic, and a laxative, and in treating asthma (S. P. Ambasta 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Boerhavia intermedia is a wide-ranging and variable species of the arid areas of southwestern North America. Ordinarily, the terminal inflorescence is an umbel of at least a few flowers. Plants with few-flowered umbels often have only one flower at some of the terminal inflorescences. Plants with predominantly or entirely one-flowered terminal inflorescences occasionally occur in the eastern part of the range. To the west, and especially on the Coloradan portion of the Sonoran Desert and on the Baja California peninsula, plants with one-flowered terminal inflorescences are more frequent, and even though those have five-ribbed fruits, they often have been identified as B. triquetra. In that region, such plants may have proportionately broader fruits as the ribs become more winglike. Some plants in southern California bear a few fruits with four angles, and in this respect are intermediate to B. triquetra.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
