General Information |
Distribution | Origin probably Madagascar, widely naturalized in scattered tropical and subtropical areasIn the Hawaiian Islands,
naturalized on
Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i.
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Habit
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Annual, monoecious herb, 0.2‒0.5 m tall, branching phyllanthoid, branches 5‒15 cm long, with 10‒25 leaves.
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Leaves
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Leaves subsessile to short-petiolate; blade broadly elliptic to obovate, (6‒)10‒20(‒24) mm long, (4‒)5‒9(‒11) mm wide, glabrous; petiole 0.5‒0.8 mm long; stipules lanceolate, 0.7‒1.1 mm long.
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Flowers
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Inflorescences an axillary cyme on the branches, proximal ones with 2‒3 staminate flowers and 1‒2 pistillate flowers, those above with solitary pistillate flowers. Staminate flowers on pedicel 0.5‒1.5 mm long, calyx lobes 5, 0.4‒0.7 mm long, nectary disc 5-lobed, stamens 5, filaments distinct; pistillate flowers on capillary pedicel (2.5‒)3‒5(‒8) mm long, calyx lobes 5, 0.6‒0.8 mm long, reflexed in fruit, nectary disc subentire, styles distinct, bifid.
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Fruit
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Fruit depressed globose, 1.7‒1.9 mm in diameter, explosively dehiscent.
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Seeds
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Seeds 0.8‒0.9 mm long, brown, uniformly papillate with brown papillae.
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Chromosomes
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2n = 26
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Contributor
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Nancy Khan
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