Phyllanthus polygonoides
knotweed leafflower, knotweed leaflower, smartweed leaf-flower
terete, not winged, glabrous.
spiral, all well developed;
stipules auriculate, pink or red to medium brown, with hyaline margins;
blade narrowly oblong to obovate, 5–10 × 1.5–5 mm, base obtuse, apex acute to mucronulate, both surfaces glabrous or scabridulous.
cymules or flowers solitary, unisexual or bisexual, with 1(–2) pistillate flowers and/or 1–3 staminate flowers.
staminate 1.5–3.5 mm, pistillate spreading in fruit, 2.5–7 mm.
sepals (5–)6, greenish yellow, sometimes suffused with red, with white margins, flat, 0.7–1.3 mm;
nectary extrastaminal, 6 glands;
stamens 3, filaments connate 2/3 length.
sepals (5–)6, green with white margins, flat, 1.5–2.5 mm, pinnately veined;
nectary annular, 6-lobed.
2.7–3.2 mm diam., smooth.
uniformly brown, (1.1–)1.2–1.4(–1.5) mm, irregularly verrucose.
= 16.
Phyllanthus polygonoides
Phyllanthus polygonoides is closely related to P. liebmannianus. Although in the flora area they are allopatric and easily distinguished by the characters used in the key, the differences other than habit are all quantitative, and where the species overlap in parts of northeastern Mexico they can be difficult to separate.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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