Flora of North America species comparison

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Parietaria judaica

Parietaria praetermissa

spreading pellitory

cluster pellitory
Habit Herbs, perennial from crown, 1-8dm. Herbs, annual, 1-5.5 dm.
Stems

ascending, erect, or decumbent.

freely branched, decumbent to ascending.
Leaf

blades narrowly to broadly elliptic, lance-elliptic, or ovate, 1.3-9 × 0.8-4.5 cm, base attenuate, cuneate, or broadly rounded, apex abruptly acuminate to long-attenuate.

blades narrowly to broadly ovate or rarely lanceolate, 1-6.5 × 0.6-4 cm, base rounded or very broadly cuneate, apex short- to long-acuminate or attenuate.
Flowers

involucral bracts 1.5-2.5 mm;

tepals ca. 2-3.5 mm, longer than bracts.

involucral bracts 1.3-4.7 mm;

tepals 1.7-2.3 mm, equal to or shorter than bracts.
Achenes

dark brown, symmetric, 1-1.2 × 0.6-0.9 mm, apex acute, mucro absent or minute;

stipe centered, on cylindric base.

light brown, asymmetric, 1-1.4 × 0.7-1.1 mm, apex obtuse, mucro subapical;

stipe slanting, short-cylindric, not centered, basally dilated.

Parietaria judaica

Parietaria praetermissa
Phenology Flowering all year, with peak in late winter–spring. Flowering winter–summer.
Habitat Cracks in sidewalks, ballast heaps, waste places, frequently about ports and coastal areas Shell mounds, calcareous outcrops, hammocks, waste places
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft) 0-10 m (0-0 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; LA; MI; NJ; NY; PA; TX; Eurasia; n Africa [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; GA; LA; NC; SC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Parietaria judaica, which, in North America, is most abundant in scattered localities in California, is the only long-lived perennial species of Parietaria in the flora. Because of confusion in Europe over the correct name, plants in North America have been called P. judaica, P. officinalis of authors, not Linnaeus, P. officinalis var. erecta (Mertens & Koch) Weddell, and P. officinalis var. diffusa (Mertens & Koch) Weddell. For a clarification of the nomenclature and taxonomy of this complex, see C.C. Townsend (1968).

Parietaria judaica was first reported from Louisiana as P. diffusa Mertens & Koch, another name commonly used on herbarium specimens (J.W. Thieret 1969).

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

Parietaria praetermissa is endemic to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of southeastern United States. The name Parietaria floridana has been incorrectly applied to this species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Urticaceae > Parietaria Urticaceae > Parietaria
Sibling taxa
P. floridana, P. hespera, P. pensylvanica, P. praetermissa
P. floridana, P. hespera, P. judaica, P. pensylvanica
Name authority Linnaeus: Fl. Palaest., 32. (1756) B. D. Hinton: Sida 3: 192. (1968)
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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