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Colombian waxweed

sticky waxweed

Habit Herbs annual, [subshrubs], 1–6 dm, with fibrous roots. Herbs perennial, 1–4 dm, with fibrous roots.
Stems

erect to decumbent and spreading, usually much-branched, hispid and setose, sometimes also puberulent.

often several from base, erect to decumbent, branched or unbranched, glandular-hispid and puberulent.

Leaves

opposite, subsessile or sessile;

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade broadly elliptic to lanceolate, 12–55 × 5–25 mm, base attenuate.

opposite, sessile or subsessile;

petiole 0–1 mm;

blade ovate-lanceolate to oblong or elliptic, 5–15[–20] × 2–7[–10] mm, base cuneate to rounded.

Racemes

leafy.

leafy.

Pedicels

1–2 mm.

0–3 mm.

Flowers

alternate, 1 interpetiolar, with 1–3 flowers on axillary branchlets;

floral tube purple adaxially and distally, or green throughout, 4–6 × 1–1.5 mm, glabrous except veins sparsely and coarsely setose;

base rounded or a descending spur, 0.5 mm;

inner surface glabrous;

epicalyx segments thick, often terminated by a bristle;

sepals equal;

petals 6, deep purple or rose purple, subspatulate, subequal, 1.5–2.5 × 0.5–1 mm;

stamens 11, extending 2/3 distance to sinus of sepals.

alternate, solitary, interpetiolar;

floral tube green abaxially, purple adaxially, 5.5–8(–9) × 2–2.5 mm, sparsely glandular-hispid;

base rounded, 0.5 mm;

inner surface glabrous proximally, villous distal to stamens;

epicalyx segments thick, not terminated by a bristle;

sepals equal;

petals (2–)6, oblanceolate or oblong, unequal, 4 abaxial ones pale purple and 4–4.7 × 2.5–2.8 mm, 2 adaxial ones purple [deep purple or with deep purple midvein] and 4 × 1.5–1.9 mm;

stamens 11, reaching or surpassing sinus of sepals.

Seeds

(4–)6(–9), elliptic to suborbiculate in outline, 1.5–1.7 × 0.2–1.5 mm, margin narrow, flattened, thin.

8–13(–20), suborbiculate in outline, 1.5–2 × 1.5–1.7 mm, margin rounded.

2n

= 16.

= 28, 32 (Bolivia), 34 (Paraguay).

Cuphea carthagenensis

Cuphea glutinosa

Phenology Flowering late spring–fall. Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain, ditches, margins of moist woods, roadsides, moist open, disturbed areas. Moist areas in open woods and pastures.
Elevation 0–200 m. [0–700 ft.] 10–200 m. [30–700 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; ditches; disturbed areas; moist open; roadsides; margins of moist woods; Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Pacific Islands (Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Philippines), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
LA; TX; South America [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The weedy, self-fertilizing Cuphea carthagenensis is the most widely distributed species of the genus and one of the more common in South America. It was first collected in the United States in Florida and North Carolina in the 1920s. Fossilized pollen very similar to pollen of C. carthagenensis and close relatives is known from the late Miocene of Alabama (S. A. Graham 2013). The species flowers year-round in subtropical and tropical regions.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

First noted in the United States in 1884 in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, Cuphea glutinosa is now more widespread in southern Louisiana and occurs in four counties in eastern Texas. The species is agamospermous in the United States, with sterile pollen but producing abundant seed. Sexually reproductive plants occur in eastern Brazil.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 10. Treatment author: Shirley A. Graham. FNA vol. 10. Treatment author: Shirley A. Graham.
Parent taxa Lythraceae > Cuphea Lythraceae > Cuphea
Sibling taxa
C. aspera, C. glutinosa, C. strigulosa, C. viscosissima, C. wrightii
C. aspera, C. carthagenensis, C. strigulosa, C. viscosissima, C. wrightii
Synonyms Lythrum carthagenense, Balsamona pinto, C. balsamona, Parsonsia pinto Parsonsia glutinosa
Name authority (Jacquin) J. F. Macbride: Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 8: 124. (1930) Chamisso & Schlechtendal: Linnaea 2: 369. (1827)
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