Overview
Acalypha1] is a genus of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. With 450 to 500 species of herbs and shrubs, the genus is only behind Euphorbia, Croton and Phyllanthus in term of Malpighiales diversity. The common names are copperleaves or three-seeded mercuries.
These plants are mostly tropical or subtropical (but not present in Hawai?i and several other Pacific Islands), with a few representatives in temperate zones. The Americas contain two third of the known species, distributed from southern United States to Uruguay and northern Argentina.
Several species, such as A. ecuadorica, A. eggersii and A. raivavensis are nearly extinct, and the St. Helena Mountain Bush or "stringwood" (A. rubrinervis)already is.
Uses
Chenille Plant (A. hispida), cultivated as houseplant because of its colorful and texturally exciting flowers, is by far the best-known species. Others are grown for their foliage and a number of cultivars have been developed, such as A. wilkesiana cv. 'Obovata Cristata'. A. bipartita is eaten as a vegetable in some parts of Africa[2].
Selected Species
- Acalypha alopecuroides
- Acalypha amentacea
- Acalypha amentacea subsp. wilkesiana (syn. A. godseffiana)
- Acalypha andina
- Acalypha arvensis
- Acalypha bipartita
- Acalypha bisetosa
- Acalypha californica – California Copperleaf, Pringle Three-seeded Mercury
- Acalypha chlorocardia
- Acalypha chuniana
- Acalypha costaricensis
- Acalypha dictyoneura
- Acalypha diversifolia
- Acalypha ecuadorica
- Acalypha eggersii
- Acalypha glabrata
- Acalypha gracilens
- Acalypha gummifera
- Acalypha hispida – Chenille Plant, Philippine Medusa, Red-hot Cattail, "foxtail"
- Acalypha hontauyuensis
- Acalypha indica, Indian Acalypha
- Acalypha klavea
- Acalypha × lancasteri[verification needed]
- Acalypha lancetillae
- Acalypha lepinei
- Acalyphal eptopoda
- Acalypha macrostachya
- Acalypha monococca
- Acalypha mortoniana
- Acalypha ostryifolia
- Acalypha pendula
- Acalypha phleoides
- Acalypha polystachya
- Acalypha portoricensis
- Acalypha radians
- Acalypha raivavensis
- Acalypha repens
- Acalypha reptans
- Acalypha rhomboidea – Common Copperleaf, Common Three-seeded Mercury
- Acalypha rubrinervis – St. Helena Mountain Bush, String Tree, Stringwood - extinct (c.1860)
- Acalypha schimpffii
- Acalypha setosa
- Acalypha siamensis
- Acalypha skutchii
- Acalypha sonderiana
- Acalypha suirenbiensis
- Acalypha tunguraguae
- Acalypha umbrosa
- Acalypha villosa
- Acalypha virginica – Virginia Copperleaf, VirginiaThree-seeded Mercury
- Acalypha wilkesiana – Beefsteakplant, Copperleaf, Fire-dragon, Jacob's-coat[3]
Photos
Taxonomy
The Subtribe Acalyphinae is a member of the Tribe Acalypheae. Here is the complete "parentage" of Acalyphinae:
- Domain: Eukaryota
Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae
Haeckel, 1866
- Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae
Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - Green Plants
- Phylum: Tracheophyta
Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
- Subphylum: Euphyllophytina
- Infraphylum: Radiatopses
Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class: Magnoliopsida
Brongniart, 1843 - Dicotyledons
- Subclass: Dilleniidae
Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder: Euphorbianae
Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order: Euphorbiales
Lindley, 1833
- Family: Euphorbiaceae
(yoo-for-bee-AY-see-ay)
J.f. Gmelin, 1777, Nom. Cons. - Spurge Family
- Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
- Tribe: Acalypheae
- Subtribe: Acalyphinae
- Tribe: Acalypheae
- Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
- Family: Euphorbiaceae
(yoo-for-bee-AY-see-ay)
J.f. Gmelin, 1777, Nom. Cons. - Spurge Family
- Order: Euphorbiales
Lindley, 1833
- Superorder: Euphorbianae
Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
- Subclass: Dilleniidae
Takhtajan, 1967
- Class: Magnoliopsida
Brongniart, 1843 - Dicotyledons
- Infraphylum: Radiatopses
Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Subphylum: Euphyllophytina
- Phylum: Tracheophyta
Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
- Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae
Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - Green Plants
- Kingdom: Plantae
Haeckel, 1866
The Subtribe Acalyphinae is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Genus (1): Acalypha
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 585 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in the Subtribe Acalyphinae.
Genera
Acalypha
Acalypha is a genus of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. With 450 to 500 species of herbs and shrubs, the genus is only behind Euphorbia, Croton and Phyllanthus in term of Malpighiales diversity. The common names are copperleaves or three-seeded mercuries. [more]
At least 726 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Acalypha.
More info about the Genus Acalypha may be found here.
References
- Pax, Ferdinand Albin & Hoffmann, Käthe (1924): Euphorbiaceae-Crotonoideae-Acalypheae-Acalyphinae. In: Engler, Adolf: Das Pflanzenreich Series IV '147.XVI (85): 1-231.
- Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004): Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2: Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
Footnotes
- ^ Latinized Ancient Greek from akaluphe (??a??f?), a nettle-like plant
- ^ Grubben & Denton (2004)
- ^ Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) (1999-08-30). "Taxon: Acalypha wilkesiana Müll. Arg." (HTML). Taxonomy for Plants. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
Sources
- The text on this page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It includes material from Wikipedia retrieved Friday, November 14, 2008.
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