Phytolacca bogotensis |
Phytolaccaceae |
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southern pokeweed |
pokeweed family |
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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. | Herbs, subshrubs, shrubs, trees, or vines, annual or perennial. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leaves | alternate, opposite, or appearing whorled; stipules minute or absent; blade pinnately veined, margins entire, often undulate. |
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Racemes | dense, proximalmost pedicels sometimes bearing 2–few flowers, to 20 cm; peduncle to 5(–8) cm; pedicel 2–4 mm. |
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Inflorescences | axillary, terminal, or leaf-opposed spikes, racemes, panicles, or compound dichasia; bract 1; bracteoles 2. |
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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. |
hypogynous (epigynous in Agdestis), radially symmetric; sepals usually persistent, 4–8, imbricate in bud, often unequal; petals absent; stamens 4–30[–100], sometimes borne in 1–2 whorls on hypogynous disk; gynoecium 1–12[–18]-carpellate, the carpels connate or distinct; ovaries superior (inferior in Agdestis), 1–12[–18]-locular; placentation basal; ovules 1 per locule; styles distinct (connate in Agdestis). |
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Fruits | achenes, berries, or cypselas. |
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Berries | green-brown becoming dark brown, 5–8 mm diam. |
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Seeds | black, thickly lenticular, 2.5–3.3 mm, shiny. |
perisperm present; embryo curved. |
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x | = 9. |
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2n | = 36. |
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Phytolacca bogotensis |
Phytolaccaceae |
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Phenology | Flowering; fruiting summer–fall. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Chrome ore piles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 10 m (0 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
MD; South America [Introduced in North America] |
HI; Central America; South America; Temperate; subtropical; and tropical North America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Australia |
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Discussion | Genera 18, species ca. 135 (6 genera, 11 species in the flora). Delimitation of the Phytolaccaceae has long been a matter of debate. The circumscription of the family followed here, except for the inclusion of Gisekia, parallels that of J. W. Nowicke (1969). In narrower concepts, such as that of G. K. Brown and G. S. Varadarajan (1985), which rely heavily on chromosome and distribution data, six segregate families are recognized, those of concern for the flora being Phytolaccaceae sensu stricto (Gisekia, Phytolacca), Petiveriaceae (Petiveria, Rivina, Trichostigma), and Agdestidaceae (Agdestis). A. Cronquist (1981) wrote that “each of the several segregate families … appears to be a natural group, but collectively they all hang together with the rest of the Phytolaccaceae. I see no reason why they cannot be accommodated at the level of tribes or subfamilies.” For Agdestis, recent anatomical data support Cronquist’s assertion, favoring the retention of the genus as a monogeneric subfamily within Phytolaccaceae sensu lato (S. Carlquist 1999). Wood and stem data do not strongly support separation of Petiveria and Rivina from Phytolaccaceae (S. Carlquist 1998). The manifold folk medicinal uses of our genera (except Agdestis and Gisekia) are summarized in J. F. Morton (1981). Phaulothamnus, included in Phytolaccaceae by some authors, is treated in the flora in Achatocarpaceae [see page 12]. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 8. | FNA vol. 4, p. 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Phytolaccaceae > Phytolacca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 2: 183. (1817) | R. Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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