Boerhavia spicata
Boerhavia diffusa
creeping spiderling
red spiderling, spreading hogweed
erect or ascending, sparingly branched throughout, 30–70 dm, densely glandular-villous, or glandular-puberulent, with spreading, nonglandular hairs basally, glabrous distally.
decumbent, ascending, or erect, usually profusely branched throughout, 3–10 dm, glabrous or minutely pubescent basally, glabrous or sparsely pubescent distally.
mostly in basal 1/2;
larger leaves with petiole 10–30 mm, blade oval, oblong, ovate, or ± triangular, 18–45 × 13–30 mm (distal leaves usually smaller, sometimes longer, proportionately narrower), adaxial surface lightly to densely glandular-pubescent, abaxial surface paler than adaxial, lightly to densely glandular-pubescent, neither surface punctate or both minutely punctate with clusters of brown cells, base truncate, round, or obtuse, margins sinuate, sometimes crisped, apex round to obtuse, rarely acute.
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.
terminal and axillary, branched 1–4 times unequally, with sticky internodal bands;
branches strongly ascending, terminating in spicate or racemose flower clusters, axis 10–55 mm.
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.
pedicel 0.4–2.3[–3.7] mm;
bracts at base of perianth usually soon deciduous, usually 2, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 0.7–1.8 mm, apex often acuminate;
perianth white to pale pink, campanulate distal to constriction, 1–1.3 mm;
stamens (2–)3, slightly exserted or included.
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.
5–33 per cluster, usually overlapping or 2–4 in group separated by small gap from next group, straw colored to grayish or reddish tan, broadly obovoid, 1.9–2.4(–2.8) × 1.1–1.3 mm (l/w: 1.7–2.1[–2.3]), apex rounded, glabrous;
ribs 5, obtuse-rounded to obtuse, often with low winglike ridge, slightly rugose near sulci;
sulci (0.2–)0.5 times as wide as base of ribs, slightly rugose, not papillate.
(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.
= ca. 52.
= 26, 52, 54, 116.
Boerhavia spicata
Boerhavia diffusa
C. F. Reed (1969) and subsequent authors have included one or more of Boerhavia coulteri, B. torreyana, and B. watsoni as synonymous with B. spicata. Even when those taxa are removed, B. spicata remains a variable species, widespread at low to middle elevations in southwestern North America, and distinguished by its mostly overlapping, obovoid fruits with rather open sulci, and the glandular pubescence on basal parts of the plant.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
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