Cuban Copperleaf (Acalypha persimilis)
Description
Herbs, annual, 3-5 dm, monoecious. Stems erect, sparsely pubescent. Leaves: petiole 1-7 cm; blade ovate, 2.5-10 - 1.5-8 cm, base broadly obtuse to rounded or truncate, margins serrate, apex acuminate. Inflorescences unisexual, axillary (staminate) and terminal (pistillate; sometimes on short lateral branches, appearing axillary); staminate peduncle 0.5-0.7 cm, fertile portion 0.5-1.5 cm; pistillate peduncle 0.1-0.5 cm, fertile portion 3-12 - 0.7-1 cm; allomorphic pistillate flowers common, near apices of pistillate inflorescences and mixed with flowers in staminate inflorescences. Pistillate bracts (normal flowers) loosely arranged (inflorescence axis visible between bracts), 5-7 - 3-4 mm, abaxial surface glabrous; lobes 7-9(-13), linear, nearly bract length, muricate; of allomorphic flowers on pistillate inflorescences like those of normal flowers, on staminate inflorescences absent. Pedicels of allomorphic flowers rudimentary. Pistillate flowers: pistil 3-carpellate (normal flowers), 1(-3)-carpellate (allomorphic flowers); styles multifid or laciniate. Capsules smooth, sparsely pubescent; allomorphic fruits oblate ellipsoidal, longitudinally ridged, an irregular flange on each side, 1.4-1.7 - 1.5-2 mm, smooth, puberulent. Seeds 1.2-1.4 mm, minutely pitted.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Malpighiales
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Family: Euphorbiaceae
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Genus: Acalypha
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