Acalypha ostryifolia

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Acalypha ostryifolia
Acalypha ostryifolia drawing.png
Drawing of Acalypha ostryifolia
Acalypha ostryifolia adult plant.JPG
Photo of Acalypha ostryifolia
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subtribe: Acalyphinae
Genus: Acalypha
Species:
A. ostryifolia
Binomial name
Acalypha ostryifolia
Riddell ex J.M. Coult.
Synonyms
  • Acalypha corchorifolia
    A.Rich. [2]
  • Ricinocarpus carolinianus
    Kuntze [2]
  • Ricinocarpus persimilis
    (Müll.Arg.) Kuntze [2]
  • Acalypha persimilis var. corchorifolia [2]
  • Acalypha persimilis var. scabra [2]
  • Acalypha persimilis
    Müll.Arg. [2]
  • Acalypha pedunculata
    Klotzsch ex Pax & K.Hoffm. [2]
  • Acalypha polystachya
    Griseb. [2]
  • Acalypha caroliniana
    Elliott [2]
  • Acalypha setosa
    Bello [2]
Hophornbeam copperleaf Acalypha ostryifolia.jpg
Hophornbeam copperleaf

Acalypha ostryifolia, sometimes spelled ostryaefolia, is a plant in the family Euphorbiaceae and is commonly known as hophornbeam copperleaf, hornbeam copperleaf, or pineland threeseed mercury, [3] is an annual herb of the copperleaf genus Acalypha. [4] It is a native of North and Central America and is generally considered a weed. [5]

Contents

Description

Acalypha ostryifolia is an annual herb reaching a height of up to 75 cm (30 in) tall. [6] The stems are upright, branching, purplish-green with vertical striations, short recurved hairs and stalked glands. Its leaves are alternate, petiolate, simple and ovate, with serrate or dentate margins, a cordate base and slight pubescence, and grow to 10 cm (3.9 in) in length. [6] Male and female flowers are in separate spikes, the staminate, males on short axillary spikes and the pistillate females in elongated, interrupted, terminal spikes. The male flowers have four ovate greenish sepals often tinged red and no petals. The female flowers are also petal-less but have three styles which subdivide into white hairs which give the inflorescence a furry appearance. Its 3-lobed capsule is depressed-globose to ovoid, grows up to 5 mm (316 in) across, with typically 3 ovoid, wrinkled seeds that are around 2 mm (116 in) in length [6] and brown with low bumpy ridges. Flowering time is from June to November [7] [8] .

Distribution and habitat

Acalypha ostryifolia grows in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua. [9] [10] Ecuador, [11] the West Indies, [6] and the United States, [6] including the US states AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV, and the US unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. [5] It has been introduced to Southern Italy. [12]

Acalypha ostryifolia grows in riverbanks, fields, bluffs, roadsides, [6] canyons and slopes. [13] It can be adventive in cultivated fields, where it can be a pest species. [6]

Ecology

The hophornbeam copperleaf is a summer weed growing in cultivated fields and waste places. It has a high germination rate and the seedlings are resistant to cold and grow as fast as soybean plants in the Midwest. It is resistant to most of the herbicides used in soybean crops with the exception of lactofen, acifluorfen and fomesafen, which controlled over 80%. Lactofen was the most successful of these with a kill rate of 95%. [14]

The spotted lady beetle ( Coleomegilla maculata ) commonly lays eggs on this plant when it grows near sweet corn crops in Kentucky. Research has shown that the insect favoured the weed over the corn, even though it was not infested by aphids on which the larvae could feed. The larvae were found to fall from the weeds and crawl across the soil before climbing sweet corn plants. The presence of the weed in close proximity to the crop was beneficial and resulted in more beetle larvae on the crop and fewer aphids than was the case when the weed was absent. [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ostrya</i> Genus of trees

Ostrya is a genus of eight to 10 small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Common names include hop-hornbeam and hophornbeam. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western corn rootworm</span> Subspecies of beetle

The Western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, is one of the most devastating corn rootworm species in North America, especially in the midwestern corn-growing areas such as Iowa. A related species, the Northern corn rootworm, D. barberi, co-inhabits in much of the range and is fairly similar in biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catkin</span> Inflorescence consisting of a spike, usually hanging, occurring for example in birch and hazel

A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated. They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem that is often drooping. They are found in many plant families, including Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae, and Salicaceae.

<i>Acalypha</i> Genus of flowering plants

Acalypha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. It is one of the largest euphorb genera, with approximately 450 to 462 species. The genus name Acalypha is from the Ancient Greek ἀκαλύφη (akalúphē) ("nettle"), an alternative form of ἀκαλήφη (akalḗphē), and was inspired by the nettle-like leaves. General common names include copperleaf and three-seeded mercury. Native North American species are generally inconspicuous most of the year until the fall when their stems and foliage turn a distinctive coppery-red.

<i>Canna indica</i> Species of flowering plant

Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to much of South America, Central America, the West Indies, and Mexico. It is also naturalized in the southeastern United States, and much of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

<i>Ostrya virginiana</i> Species of tree

Ostrya virginiana, the American hophornbeam, is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas. Populations from Mexico and Central America are also regarded as the same species, although some authors prefer to separate them as a distinct species, Ostrya guatemalensis. Other names include eastern hophornbeam, hardhack, ironwood, and leverwood.

<i>Acalypha hispida</i> Flowering shrub

Acalypha hispida, the chenille plant, is a flowering shrub which belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae, the subfamily Acalyphinae, and the genus Acalypha. Acalypha is the fourth largest genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, and contains many plants native to Hawaii and Oceania.

<i>Acalypha rubrinervis</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Acalypha rubrinervis is an extinct plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), from the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It was called string tree on account of the thin pendulous inflorescences which resembled red strings. Disturbance following human settlement on the island destroyed its habitat and it was last seen in the 19th century. It is thus one of a number of island plants to have been driven to extinction by human activity.

<i>Thalictrum dioicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Thalictrum dioicum, the early meadow-rue or quicksilver-weed, is a species of herbaceous plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Plants are typically upright growing woodland natives from Colorado Rocky Mountain forests to central and eastern North America including parts of south eastern Canada. This species has dioecious plants, with male and female flowers on separate plants blooming in early to mid spring.

<i>Sium suave</i> Species of flowering plant

Sium suave, the water parsnip or hemlock waterparsnip, is a perennial wildflower in the family Apiaceae. It is native to many areas of both Asia and North America. The common name water parsnip is due to its similarity to parsnip and its wetland habitat. The alternate common name hemlock waterparsnip is due to its similarity to the highly poisonous spotted water hemlock.

<i>Acalypha rhomboidea</i> Species of flowering plant

Acalypha rhomboidea is a plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae.

<i>Amaranthus tuberculatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Amaranthus tuberculatus, commonly known as roughfruit amaranth, rough-fruited water-hemp, tall waterhemp, or common waterhemp, is a species of flowering plant. It is a summer annual broadleaf with a germination period that lasts several months. Tall waterhemp has been reported as a weed in 40 of 50 U.S. states.

<i>Laccospadix</i> Genus of palms

Laccospadix is a monotypic plant genus in the palm family which is endemic to Queensland, Australia. The sole described species is Laccospadix australasicus, commonly called Atherton palm or Queensland kentia. The two Greek words from which it is named translate to "reservoir" and "spadix".

<i>Euphorbia prostrata</i> Species of flowering plant

Euphorbia prostrata is a species of spurge known by the common name prostrate spurge or prostrate sandmat.

<i>Acalypha indica</i> Species of flowering plant

Acalypha indica is an herbaceous annual that has catkin-like inflorescences with cup-shaped involucres surrounding the minute flowers. It is mainly known for its root being attractive to domestic cats, and for its various medicinal uses. It occurs throughout the Tropics.

<i>Orius insidiosus</i> Species of true bug

Orius insidiosus, common name the insidious flower bug, is a species of minute pirate bug, a predatory insect in the order Hemiptera. They are considered beneficial, as they feed on small pest arthropods and their eggs. They are mass-reared for use in the biological control of thrips.

<i>Coleomegilla maculata</i> Species of beetle

Coleomegilla maculata, commonly known as the spotted lady beetle, pink spotted lady beetle or twelve-spotted lady beetle, is a large coccinellid beetle native to North America. The adults and larvae feed primarily on aphids and the species has been used as a biological control agent. Based on name connotation and to avoid confusion with other species also called "spotted ladybeetle", spotted pink ladybeetle is probably the most appropriate common name for this species.

<i>Acalypha wilkesiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Acalypha wilkesiana, common names copperleaf, Jacob’s coat and Flamengueira, is an evergreen shrub growing to 3 metres (9.8 ft) high and 2 metres across. It has a closely arranged crown, with an erect stem and many branches. Both the branches and the leaves are covered in fine hairs. The leaves, which may be flat or crinkled, are large and broad with teeth around the edge. They can be 10–20 centimetres (3.9–7.9 in) long and 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide. The leaves are coppery green with red splashes, giving them a mottled appearance. Separate male and female flowers appear on the same plant. The male flowers are in long spikes which hang downwards while the female flowers are in short spikes. The latter do not show up easily as they are often hidden among the leaves. The flower stalks are 10–20 cm long.

<i>Acalypha australis</i> Species of flowering plant

Acalypha australis, commonly known as Asian copperleaf, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae native to eastern Asia.

<i>Acalypha gracilens</i> Species of flowering plant

Acalypha gracilens is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. Common names include slender threeseed mercury; three-seeded mercury; shortstalk copperleaf; slender copperleaf. It is native to the south-eastern United States.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer - Acalypha ostryifolia". NatureServe Explorer Acalypha ostryifolia. NatureServe. 2022-06-22. Retrieved 22 Jun 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Synonyms of Hornbeam Copperleaf (Acalypha ostryifolia)". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  3. "Common names for Hornbeam Copperleaf (Acalypha ostryifolia)". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  4. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Acalypha ostryifolia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  5. 1 2 "Plants Profile for Acalypha ostryifolia (Pineland threeseed mercury)". Plants Database. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mohlenbrock, Robert H. (16 April 1982). Flowering Plants: Basswoods to Spurges. SIU Press. p. 171. ISBN   978-0-8093-8990-2.
  7. Discover Life
  8. SEINet
  9. "Acalypha ostryifolia". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  10. World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  11. "Name – Acalypha ostryifolia Riddell ex J.M. Coult". Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 2014-03-27.
  12. Plants of Italy - Flora italiana
  13. McLaughlin, Stephen P. (2006). "Vascular floras of Sonoita Creek State Natural Area and San Rafael State Park: Arizona's first natural-area parks". SIDA, Contributions to Botany. Botanical Research Institute of Texas. 22 (1): 685. ISSN   0036-1488.
  14. Hophornbean Copperleaf (Acalypha ostryaefolia) Biology and Control
  15. Factors influencing dispersal of larval Coleomegilla maculata from the weed Acalypha ostryaefolia to sweet corn