Alternanthera nodiflora

Alternanthera nodiflora (common name common joyweed)[4] is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae.[1][2] It is endemic to Australia, growing in all mainland states[4] It is naturalised in Tasmania, over much of Africa, in Japan, and in Myanmar.[5]

Alternanthera nodiflora
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Alternanthera
Species:
A. nodiflora
Binomial name
Alternanthera nodiflora
Synonyms[3]

Alternanthera nodiflora var. linearifolia Moq.
Alternanthera nodiflora R.Br. var. nodiflora
Alternanthera triandra var. nodiflora (R.Br.) Maiden & Betche

Description

Alternanthera nodiflora is an erect annual herb. The branches are almost without a covering but the nodes are covered with dense intertwined hairs, and there are two lines of hairs along the branches. The leaves, too, are almost without a covering and are linear, 2-8 cm long and have smooth margins. The inflorescences are globular, and often clustered. The fruit is less than half the length of the perianth. The style is very short.[6]

Taxonomy and naming

It was first described by Robert Brown in 1810.[1][2] The type specimen is BM001015779 (collected on the east coast of Australia); Isotypes are E00279928 (collected at Broadsound), P00622600 (all three collected by Brown). The name is accepted by the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria[1], by Plants of the World online,[5] but is considered a synonym of Alternanthera sessilis by Catalogue of Life.[7]

The specific epithet, nodiflora, derives from the Latin, nodus,( "knot" or "node") and flos, floris ("flower") to give an adjective describing the plant as having flowers arranged in a knot-shaped inflorescence or flowering at the nodes.[8]

References
  1. "Alternanthera nodiflora". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  2. Brown, R. (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805. p. 417.
  3. "Alternanthera nodiflora R.Br". Australian Plant Census (APC). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  4. S. W. L. Jacobs & L. Lapinpuro (1990). "Alternanthera nodiflor R.Br". National Herbarium of NSW. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. "Alternanthera nodiflora R.Br. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. "Fact sheet for Alternanthera nodiflora". www.flora.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. "Catalogue of Life: Alternanthera nodiflora". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  8. "nodiflorus,-a,-um". www.plantillustrations.org. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
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