Phytolacca bogotensis |
Phytolacca octandra |
|
---|---|---|
southern pokeweed |
red inkplant |
|
Habit | Plants to 2 m. Leaves: petiole 0.5–3(–4) cm; blade broadly lanceolate to elliptic, to 18 × 7 cm, base obtuse to attenuate, apex acute to acuminate. | Plants to 2 m. Leaves: petiole 0.5–3 cm; blade lanceolate to elliptic, to 22 × 7.5 cm, base obtuse to attenuate, apex acute to acute-acuminate, sometimes mucronate. |
Racemes | dense, proximalmost pedicels sometimes bearing 2–few flowers, to 20 cm; peduncle to 5(–8) cm; pedicel 2–4 mm. |
|
Inflorescences | axillary or terminal spikes or spikelike, equaling or shorter than subtending leaves, to 14 cm; peduncle to 3 cm; pedicel absent or to 2 mm. |
|
Flowers | sepals 5, white to red, oblong to ovate, subequal, 2–3 × 1.2–2 mm; stamens 7–12, in 1 whorl (rarely, partial 2d whorl present); carpels 7–10, fully connate or sometimes connate only in proximal 1/2; ovary 7–10-loculed. |
sepals 5, white to pinkish or reddish, oblong to ovate, subequal, 2–3 × 1.2–2 mm; stamens (7–)8–10, in 1 whorl; carpels 7–10, connate; ovary 7–10-loculed. |
Berries | green-brown becoming dark brown, 5–8 mm diam. |
greenish, 4.5–6 mm diam. |
Seeds | black, thickly lenticular, 2.5–3.3 mm, shiny. |
black, lenticular, 2 mm, shiny. |
2n | = 36. |
|
Phytolacca bogotensis |
Phytolacca octandra |
|
Phenology | Flowering; fruiting summer–fall. | Flowering summer–fall northward, probably year-round southward. |
Habitat | Chrome ore piles | Disturbed areas |
Elevation | 10 m (0 ft) | 200-1000 m (700-3300 ft) |
Distribution |
MD; South America [Introduced in North America] |
AZ; WI; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Pacific Islands |
Discussion | Phytolacca octandra is a species with nearly worldwide distribution. It is closely similar to, and perhaps not specifically distinct from, P. icosandra (J. I. Davis 1985). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 8. | FNA vol. 4, p. 9. |
Parent taxa | Phytolaccaceae > Phytolacca | Phytolaccaceae > Phytolacca |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 183. (1817) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 631. (1762) |
Web links |