Boerhavia coccinea Mill.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Nyctaginaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Boerhavia coccinea Mill.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Decumbent herb, to 50 cm long, many-branched from a thickened base; twigs cylindrical, puberulent to pilose. Leaves in unequal pairs; blades 1.2-3.5 x 0.9-2.5 cm, ovate, lanceolate to nearly rounded, chartaceous, sparsely pilose, especially on veins, lower side glaucous, ciliate, the apex obtuse to acute, the base rounded to truncate, the margins wavy; petioles pilose, 2-15 mm long. Flowers nearly sessile, 5-12 in terminal, subcapitate clusters on short, axillary racemes; axis 1-5 cm long, puberulent; bracts subulate, longer than the calyx base. Calyx base 0.5-1.5 mm long, puberulent, the limb funnel-shaped, red or violet-red, 0.6- 1 mm long; stamens usually 3, slightly exserted. Anthocarp sessile, green, glandular-pubescent, sticky, short club-shaped, 2.5-3 mm long, 5-ribbed.

  • Distribution

    A common roadside weed. Emmaus (A2004, A2821), Reef Bay Quarter at Lameshur (B643). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; a pantropical weed.

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