Malvastrum americanum (L.) Torr.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Malvaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Malvastrum americanum (L.) Torr.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Herb, subshrub, or shrub 0.5-1.5 m tall, stellate-pubescent, the hairs 5-12-rayed. Leaf blades ovate or weakly lobulate, 2-9 x 1-8 cm, minutely stellate-pubescent above and beneath, the apex acute, the base truncate, the margins serrate; petioles 1-6 cm long. Inflorescences dense spikes, usually > 3 cm long, terminal or terminating lateral axillary branches; flowers sessile, bracteate, subtended by an involucel of 3 linear bractlets. Calyx 5-6 mm long (accrescent to 6-10 mm in fruit), hirsute; petals 8-9 mm long, yellow-orange; androecium yellowish, the column stellatepubescent. Fruit oblate, 5-6 mm diam.; mericarps 11-14, apically setose, dorsally smooth and glabrous, laterally ribbed, without cusps. Seeds 1.5 mm long.

  • Discussion

    Note: This species was treated incorrectly by some previous workers (e.g., Britton, 1918; Britton & Wilson, 1924; Eggers, 1897; Millspaugh, 1902) as Malvastrum spicatum (L.) A. Gray, a plant that is in fact a Melochia.

  • Distribution

    Common along open and disturbed ground. East End (A5389), Johns Folly (A3943), Southside Pond (A4069). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Virgin Gorda (fide Britton & Wilson, 1924: 550); West Indies, southem United States (Rorida, Texas) south to Mexico, Central America, and South America (Argentina), also adventive in the Old World.

    Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Virgin Gorda Virgin Islands South America| West Indies| United States of America North America| México Mexico North America| South America| Argentina South America|