Flora of North America species comparison

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Microstachys

microstachys
Habit Herbs [shrubs], annual [perennial], monoecious; hairs unbranched [branched]; latex white.
Leaves

alternate, simple;

stipules present, persistent;

petiole present, glands absent;

blade unlobed, margins serrulate [entire], laminar glands abaxial, at base [absent];

venation pinnate.
Inflorescences

appearing unisexual (pistillate and staminate portions usually shortly separated on stem), terminal, leaf-opposed, or axillary, racemelike thyrses;

glands subtending each bract [0] 2.
Pedicels

present, often rudimentary.
Staminate flowers

sepals 3, imbricate, distinct [connate basally];

petals 0;

nectary absent;

stamens 3, distinct;

pistillode absent.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 3, distinct;

petals 0;

nectary absent;

pistil 3-carpellate;

styles [0 or]3, connate basally, unbranched.
Fruits

capsules, base not persisting.
Seeds

oblong, ends truncate [elliptic];

outer seed coat dry;

caruncle present [absent].

Microstachys
Distribution
from USDA
Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Australia; tropical and subtropical regions [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 15 (1 in the flora).

Microstachys is distinct based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic evidence (H.-J. Esser 1998; K. Wurdack et al. 2005), although species have been included historically in Sebastiania. The inflorescence architecture characteristic of Microstachys is unusual: the pistillate and staminate parts are usually shortly separated along the main stem, appearing as two separate partial inflorescences at consecutive nodes, the pistillate one proximal and supra-axillary, and the staminate distal and leaf opposed. The genus is known primarily from the New World with a few species found in Africa, Asia, and Australia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 229. Author: Kenneth J. Wurdack.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae
Subordinate taxa
M. corniculata
Name authority A. Jussieu: Euphorb. Gen., 48. (1824)
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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