Flora of North America species comparison

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Mollugo cerviana

carpet weed, slender carpet-weed, thread-stem carpet-weed
Habit Plants erect, 3–20 cm.
Leaves

glaucous, in whorls of 4–12, basal rosette present;

petiole 0.8–1.1 mm;

blade linear to spatulate, 3–15 × 1–5 mm, base cuneate, apex acute to obtuse.
Inflorescences

flowers in groups of 3–4 in stalked, axillary and terminal umbellate cymes.
Flowers

sepals pale green, glaucous abaxially, white adaxially, elliptic to obovate, 1–1.5 × 1–1.6 mm, margins white, membranous;

stamens 5, alternate with sepals;

pedicel erect to spreading, 3–11 mm.
Capsules

subglobose, 1.5–1.8 × 1.5–1.9 mm.
Seeds

20–40, brown, finely reticulate, 0.3–0.4 × 0.2–0.4 mm.
2n

= 18.

Mollugo cerviana
Phenology Flowering late summer–early fall.
Habitat Open woodlands, dry sandy soils
Elevation 400-2300 m (1300-7500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; TX; UT; n Mexico; s Europe; s Asia; Africa; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

A specimen (in PH) of Mollugo cerviana is known as a waif from ballast in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mollugo cerviana is a weed of sandy places in tropical and subtropical regions around the world (T. S. Bakshi and R. N. Kapil 1954; V. V. Sivarajan 1988). It has been used in India to treat fevers, and post-partum discharges and to purify the blood (K. R. Kirtikar and B. D. Basu 1935). In Africa, it is dried, powdered, and burned, and put in incisions to treat pleurisy, and the leaves are chewed to treat coughs and reduce hangovers (H. M. Burkill 1985). The species does not compete well in crowded conditions (Bakshi and Kapil 1954). Several varieties have been described, but delimitation of the varieties is unclear and needs further study.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 511.
Parent taxa Molluginaceae > Mollugo
Sibling taxa
M. verticillata
Synonyms Pharnaceum cervianum
Name authority (Linnaeus) Seringe: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 1: 392. (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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