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Phyllanthus urinaria | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Phyllanthaceae |
Genus: | Phyllanthus |
Species: | P. urinaria |
Binomial name | |
Phyllanthus urinaria | |
Subspecies [1] | |
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Synonyms | |
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Phyllanthus urinaria is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is native to Asia and has an introduced presence in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. It has common names such as chamber bitter, [3] gripeweed, shatterstone, stonebreaker, and leafflower.
Phyllanthus urinaria is a summer annual and germinates from early summer to early fall, requiring warm soil and light. [4] It grows to a height of about 60 centimetres (2 feet), has small alternate leaves resembling those of the genus Mimosa , disposed in two ranges. It is suffruticose, woody at the base and herbaceous above. The leaves are large at the tip and smaller towards the petiole. The leaves are closed at night and are open in the day. Flowers are greenish white, minute and appear in the leaf axils , hanging on short pedicels below the leaves. Numerous small green-red fruits, round and smooth, are found along the underside of the stems, which are erect and red. It reproduces by seeds, which are found in the green, wart-like fruit attached to the underside of the branch.
Although of Asian origin, Phyllanthus urinaria is widely found in other regions of the world, including Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia, Africa, and the United States. [5]
P. urinaria is a warm-season, tropical or subtropical species that prefers summer average temperatures greater than 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) and winter average temperatures greater than 0 °C (32 °F). It has been reported in many habitats, including roadsides, disturbed lands, forests, cropland, and nurseries. [5]
Phyllanthus urinaria is considered a competitive weed in some regions because of its numerous seeds, high shade tolerance, and extensive root system. It is a warm-season, annual, broadleaf plant that emerges from warm soils beginning in early summer. [5]
Persicaria perfoliata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. Common names include mile-a-minute, devil's tail, giant climbing tearthumb, and Asiatic tearthumb. It is a trailing herbaceous annual vine with barbed stems and triangular leaves. It is native to most of temperate and tropical eastern Asia, occurring from eastern Russia and Japan in the north, and the range extending to the Philippines and India in the south.
Howea is a genus of two palms, H. belmoreana and H. forsteriana, both endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia. H. forsteriana in particular is commonly grown as an indoor plant in the Northern Hemisphere, and the two species form the mainstay of the island's palm seed industry and more importantly its trade in newly germinated seedlings. The palms are also cultivated on Norfolk Island, where seeds are produced for export.
Tribulus terrestris is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to thrive in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive.
Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750 to 1200. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and pachycaulous succulents. Some have flattened leaflike stems called cladodes. It has a wide variety of floral morphologies and chromosome numbers and has one of the widest range of pollen types of any seed plant genus.
Digitaria is a genus of plants in the grass family native to tropical and warm temperate regions but can occur in tropical, subtropical, and cooler temperate regions as well. Common names include crabgrass, finger-grass, and fonio. They are slender monocotyledonous annual and perennial lawn, pasture, and forage plants; some are often considered lawn pests. Digitus is the Latin word for "finger", and they are distinguished by the long, finger-like inflorescences they produce.
Abutilon theophrasti, also known as Velvetleaf, Velvet Plant, Velvetweed and the Chinese jute is an annual plant in the family Malvaceae that is native to southern Asia and it serves as a type species of the genus Abutilon. Its specific epithet, theophrasti, commemorates the ancient Greek botanist-philosopher Theophrastus.
Soliva sessilis, one of up to nine species of the genus Soliva, is a low-growing herbaceous annual plant. Its common names include field burrweed, Onehunga-weed, lawn burrweed, lawnweed, jo-jo weed and common soliva. It is one of several plants also known as bindi weed, bindii, or bindi-eye.
Melilotus albus, known as honey clover, white melilot (UK), Bokhara clover (Australia), white sweetclover (US), and sweet clover, is a nitrogen-fixing legume in the family Fabaceae. Melilotus albus is considered a valuable honey plant and source of nectar and is often grown for forage. Its characteristic sweet odor, intensified by drying, is derived from coumarin.
Thunbergia alata, commonly called black-eyed Susan vine, is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant species in the family Acanthaceae. It is native to Eastern Africa, and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.
Erigeron sumatrensis is an annual herb probably native to South America, but widely naturalised in tropical and subtropical regions, and regarded as an invasive weed in many places.
Verbena bonariensis, the purpletop vervain, clustertop vervain, Argentinian vervain, tall verbena or pretty verbena, is a member of the verbena family cultivated as a flowering annual or herbaceous perennial plant. In USA horticulture, it is also known by the ambiguous names purpletop and South American vervain. For the misapplication "Brazilian verbena" see below.
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.
Carthamus lanatus is a species of thistle known as woolly distaff thistle, downy safflower or saffron thistle. It is closely related to safflower. This annual plant is a native of the Mediterranean Basin, but it is familiar in other places where it was introduced and has become a noxious weed, such as in parts of North America and southern Australia with similar climates.
Macroptilium atropurpureum, commonly referred to as purple bush-bean, or siratro is a perennial legume recognized by its climbing, dense, green vines and deep purple flowers. The plant is indigenous to the tropical and subtropical regions of North, Central, and South America, as far north as Texas in the USA and as far south as Peru and Brazil. It has been introduced for use as a food for stock to many tropical regions around the world. It has become an invasive pest plant in a number of areas, including the north-eastern coast of Australia. Rich in protein, M. atropurpureum is commonly used for cattle pastures intercropped with grass, used in hay, or as a ground cover to prevent soil erosion and to improve soil quality.
Melothria sphaerocarpa is a species of melon native from southern Mexico and the Dominican Republic through Central America to tropical South America. It has been introduced to western tropical Africa, where has been known under the synonym Cucumeropsis mannii, and is grown for food and as a source of oil, more often for the seed oil than for the fruit.
Malva pusilla, also known as Malva rotundifolia, the low mallow, small mallow, or the round-leaved mallow, is an annual and biennial herb species of the Mallow genus Malva in the family of Malvaceae. Malva is a genus that consists of about 30 species of plants. This genus consists of plants named mallows. Mallows grow in many regions, including temperate, subtropical, and tropical areas.
Neslia is a monotypic plant genus in the family Brassicaceae. The only extant species is Neslia paniculata(L.) Desv.
Maranta leuconeura, widely known as the prayer plant due to its daily sunlight-dependent movements, is a species of flowering plant in the family Marantaceae native to the Brazilian tropical forests. It is a variable, rhizomatous perennial, growing to 30 cm (12 in) tall and broad, with crowded clumps of evergreen, strikingly-marked oval leaves, each up to 12 cm (5 in) long. The plant spreads itself horizontally, carpeting an entire small area of forest floor, sending roots into the substrate at each leaf node.
Phyllanthus tenellus is a herbaceous plant in the leafflower family, Phyllanthaceae. It is commonly called Mascarene Island leaf flower as it is native to the Mascarene Islands. It is often a weed in flower beds, gardens, roadsides, and other disturbed areas.
Penstemon ambiguus, commonly known as the bush penstemon, pink plains penstemon, or gilia beardtongue is a species of Penstemon that grows in the shortgrass prairies and deserts of the western United States and northern Mexico. This bush-like penstemon grows in sandy, loose, and creosote soils and is particularly known for the spectacular flowering show it produces, sometime seasons turning whole hillsides bright pink–white.