Urena lobata L.

  • 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

    Urena lobata L.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Shrub 1-2 m tall; stems minutely stellate-pubescent. Leaf blades ovate, angular, or shallowly lobed, 3-9 x 1-10 cm (smaller and narrower upward), discolorous, minutely stellatepubescent above and beneath, with small but prominent nectary at base of midrib beneath (sometimes several nectaries on the principal nerves), the apex acute, the base truncate to cordate, the sinuses (if lobed) narrow, the margins irregularly serrate; petioles 0.5-7.5 cm long (reduced upward), pubescent like stem; stipules subulate, 3-5 mm long. Rowers axillary, usually solitary; pedicels shorter than subtending petioles; involucellar bracts 5, 5-8 mm long, connate basally, the lobes linear-lanceolate to triangular. Calyx slightly shorter than to equaling the involucel; petals 18-20 mm long, lavender; androecium with anthers subsessile on column, purplish. Fruit oblate, 8-10 mm diam., with numerous glochidiate spines.

  • Distribution

    Occasional in disturbed sites along roadsides. Bordeaux Mountain (A3177, A3849). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; pantropical.

    Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America|