Phyllanthus tenellus
Phyllanthus acidus
Mascarene Island leaf-flower
otaheite or Tahitian gooseberry tree, Tahitian gooseberry tree
main stems terete, not winged, glabrous or scabridulous; ultimate branchlets subterete, not winged, glabrous or scabridulous.
main stems and ultimate branchlets terete, not winged, glabrous.
on main stems spiral, scalelike;
stipules not auriculate, reddish brown.;
leaves on ultimate branchlets distichous, well developed;
stipules not auriculate, pale green or pink with paler margins;
blade elliptic to obovate, 6–25 × 4–11 mm, base acute to rounded, apex acute to obtuse, both surfaces glabrous.
on main stems deciduous, spiral, scalelike;
stipules not auriculate, dark brown.;
leaves on ultimate branchlets deciduous with branchlets, distichous, well developed;
stipules not auriculate, dark brown;
blade broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, (40–)50–90 × (20–)25–45 mm, base obtuse or rounded, apex acute, both surfaces glabrous.
cymules or flowers solitary, proximal bisexual with 1–2 pistillate flowers and 2–3 staminate flowers, distal with 1 pistillate flower.
cymules on leafless short shoots, on old wood bisexual with 1–9 pistillate flowers and 25–40 staminate flowers, on new growth bisexual on proximal shoots with 1–2 pistillate flowers and 8–12 staminate flowers, staminate on distal shoots with 8–12 flowers.
staminate 0.5–1.5 mm, pistillate flexuous, capillary, and pendent in fruit, (2.5–)3–8 mm.
staminate 1.5–3 mm, pistillate spreading in fruit, 2.3–5(–6) mm.
sepals 5, white except green midrib, flat, 0.4–0.7 mm;
nectary extrastaminal, 5 glands;
stamens 5, filaments distinct.
sepals 4, reddish purple with pink to white margins, flat, 1.1–1.4(–1.5) mm;
nectary extrastaminal, 4 glands;
stamens (3–)4, filaments distinct.
sepals 5, white except green midrib, flat, 0.6–0.8 mm, 1-veined;
nectary annular, unlobed.
sepals 4, green to reddish purple with pink to white margins, flat, (1–)1.2–1.4 mm, 1-veined;
nectary annular, 4-lobed.
1.7–1.9 mm diam., smooth.
greenish yellow to white, (12–)15–20(–25) mm diam., smooth.
uniformly brown, 0.8–0.9 mm, evenly papillate.
uniformly brown, 3.3–3.5 mm, smooth.
= 26.
= 26 (West Indies).
Phyllanthus tenellus
Phyllanthus acidus
Phyllanthus tenellus is easily recognized by its long, capillary pistillate pedicels that are flexuous and pendent in fruit; it is native to the Mascarene Islands and perhaps to eastern Africa, other western Indian Ocean Islands, and the Arabian Peninsula, and is widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It appears to have been introduced into Florida in the 1920s and is continuing to spread. Phyllanthus tenellus has been reported from Arkansas (E. Sundell et al. 1999) and California as a nursery weed (G. F. Hrusa, pers. comm.), and from Oklahoma in flower beds (B. W. Hoagland, pers. comm.), and may be expected to become naturalized in those states.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Phyllanthus acidus is widely cultivated in the tropics and subtropics for its edible drupes. In the flora area, it is known sparingly from Collier and Monroe counties.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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