Alternanthera brasiliana

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Amaranthaceae

Herbs, clambering subshrubs , shrubs , or lianas. Leaves alternate or opposite, entire, exstipulate . Flowers small, bisexual or unisexual , or sterile and reduced, subtended by 1 membranous bract and 2 bracteoles, solitary or aggregated in cymes. Inflorescences elongated or condensed spikes (heads ), racemes , or thyrsoid structures of varying complexity. Bracteoles membranous or scarious . Tepals 3-5, membranous, scarious or subleathery, 1-, 3-, 5-, or 7(-23) -veined. Stamens as many as tepals and opposite these, rarely fewer than tepals; filaments free , united into a cup at base or ± entirely into a tube , filament lobes present or absent, pseudostaminodes present or absent; anthers (1- or) 2-loculed, dorsifixed , introrsely dehiscent . Ovary superior, 1-loculed; ovules 1 to many; style persistent , short and indistinct or long and slender; stigma capitate, penicillate , 2-lobed or forming 2 filiform branches. Fruit a dry utricle or a fleshy capsule, indehiscent, irregularly bursting, or circumscissile. Seeds lenticular , reniform , subglobose, or shortly cylindric , smooth or verruculose .

About 70 genera and 900 species: worldwide; 15 genera (one introduced ) and 44 species (three endemic, 14 introduced) in China.

Morphology of the androecium, perianth (tepals), and the inflorescence has traditionally been used to circumscribe genera and tribes . Pseudostaminodia are interstaminal appendages with variously shaped apices. Filament appendages are the lateral appendages of filaments (one on each side) . The basic structure of the inflorescence is the cyme (branchlets arising from the bracteole axils, the bracteoles serving as bracts for upper flowers), which can be reduced to one flower with two bracteoles and a bract. Units of dispersal vary considerably (capsules opening with lower part persistent, flower and bracteoles falling together, or cymose partial inflorescences breaking off above bract) and can be characteristic for genera. Several genera possess long trichomes serving dispersal at the base of the tepals.[1]

Genus Alternanthera

Herbs or subshrubs , annual or perennial . Stems prostrate , decumbent , ascending , erect , or floating, indumentum of simple trichomes . Leaves opposite, sessile or petiolate ; blade lanceolate to ovate , ovate-rhombic, or obovate-rhombic, margins entire. Inflorescences axillary or terminal , sessile or pedunculate , several-flowered cylindric spikes or globose heads , without immediately subtending leaves; bracts and bracteoles scarious . Flowers bisexual ; tepals 5, distinct ; stamens 3-5; filaments connate basally into tube or short cup ; pseudostaminodes 5, alternating with stamens; ovule 1; style 1, ca. 0.2 mm; stigma capitate or rarely 2-lobed. Utricles compressed , ovoid or obovoid , indehiscence. Seeds 1, reddish brown, lenticular or ovoid-oblong.

Species ca. 80: primarily American tropics and subtropics, some in Asia, Africa, and Australia.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Sandy, wet, disturbed sites; 0-10 m [3].

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Alternanthera dentata (Moench) Stuchlik Ex R. E. Fries • Alternanthera jacquinii (Schrad.) Griseb. Ex Kuntze • Gomphrena brasiliana L. • Gomphrena Brasiliensis • Gomphrena brasiliensis (L.) Lam.

Notes

Publishing author : Kuntze Publication : Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 537 1891 [5 Nov 1891]

Basionym author: (L.)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Alternanthera

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 33 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. bettzichiana (Calicoplant) · A. bettzickiana (Baptist Plant) · A. bettzickiana 'Brilliantissima' (Joyweed) · A. brasiliana (Brazil Chaff-Flower) · A. caracasana (Mat Chaff-Flower) · A. crucis (West Indian Joyweed) · A. dentata 'Purple Knight' (Calico Plant) · A. dentata 'Red Marble' (Calico Plant) · A. dentata 'Rubiginosa' (Calico Plant) · A. echinocephala (Seaurchin Joyweed) · A. ficoidea 'Aurea' (Chartreuse Josephs Coat) · A. ficoidea 'Chartreuse' (Chartreuse Josephs Coat) · A. ficoidea 'Grenadine' (Josephs Coat) · A. ficoidea 'New Burgundy' (Baptist Plant) · A. ficoidea 'Purple Threadleaf' (Baptist Plant) · A. ficoidea 'Rosea Nana' (Dwarf Rose Josephs Coat) · A. ficoidea 'Snow Carpet' (Brazilian Snow Flower) · A. flavescens (Yellow Chaff-Flower) · A. flavogrisea (Alternanthera) · A. hassleriana (Hassler's Alternanthera) · A. lanuginosa (Woolly Tidestromia) · A. maritima (Beach Alternanthera) · A. palmeri (Palmer's Joyweed) · A. paronichyoides (Smooth Chaff-Flower) · A. paronichyoides var. amazonica (Smooth Joyweed) · A. paronichyoides var. paronichyoides (Smooth Joyweed) · A. philoxeroides (Alligator Weed) · A. pungens (Creeping Chaffweed) · A. reineckii (Red Hygrophila) · A. sessilis (Sessile Chaff-Flower) · A. tenella (Alternanthera Snow Ball) · A. tenella tenella (Sanguinaria) · A. trigyna (Island Joyweed)

More Info

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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. 21 1917 [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 145, p. 146.
• Flora Costaricensis / William Burger, editor. 13 1983 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 1983. url p. 148, p. 150.
• Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 553, p. 594, p. 94.
• Flora of Guatemala, by Paul C. Standley and J.A. Steyermark. 24 1946 Chicago, 1946- url p. 146, p. 147.
• Flora of Peru / by J. Francis Macbride; B.E. Dahlgren, editor. 13 1937 Chicago, U.S.A.: Field Museum of Natural History, [1937] url p. 495, p. 496.
• Flora of Yucatan, by Paul C. Standley. 3 1930 Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1930. url p. 255.
• Flora of the sand keys of Florida, by Charles Frederick Millspaugh. 2 1907 Chicago, Ill.:Field Columbian Museum, 1907. url p. 195, p. 197, p. 203.
• Journal of ethnobiology. 24 2004 Flagstaff, Ariz.: Center for Western Studies, 1981- url p. 154.
• Manual of the southeastern flora: being descriptions of the seed plants growing naturally in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, eastern Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 1933 New York: The author, 1933. url p. 477.
• Phytologia memoirs. Plainfield, N.J.: H.N. Moldenke and A.L. Moldenke, 1980- url p. 129.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 161.
• The flora of the Dutch West Indian islands. .. by I. Boldingh. Leyden, E. J. Brill, 1909-14. url p. 180, p. 24.
• Kuan Ke-chien. 1979. Amaranthaceae. In: Kung Hsien-wu & Tsien Cho-po, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 25(2): 194241.
• Mears, J. A. 1978. The nomenclature and type collections of the widespread taxa of Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae). Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 129: 1-21.

Notes

Contributors

• "Alternanthera brasiliana". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 448. Published by Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2007. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed March 24, 2007.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 16, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 12 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 25, 2008)

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 16, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Virtual Herbarium Darwin Core format
• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2646930
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-20765
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13739376
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:296003-2
• GRIN Nomen Number: 101485
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 20765
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 10294-2
• MoBot NameID: 1100410
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDAMA03020
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: GOBR3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 18481

Footnotes

1. Bojian Bao, Thomas Borsch & Steven E. Clemants "Amaranthaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 415. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Steven E. Clemants "Alternanthera". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 406, 435, 447. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Alternanthera brasiliana". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 448. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.