Home | > | List of families | > | Rubiaceae | > | Mitracarpus | > | hirtus |
Synonyms: |
Mitracarpus scaber Zucc. Mitracarpus verticillatus (Schumach. & Thonn.) Vatke Mitracarpus villosus (Sw.) DC. Spermacoce hirta L. Spermacoce villosa Sw. Staurospermum verticillatum Schumach & Thonn. |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Erect or spreading annual herb up to 40 cm tall; branchlets pubescent with short curled more or less appressed hairs and often with spreading ones as well. Leaves elliptic, 1–6 cm long, scabrid-pubescent above often only when young, mostly hairless beneath except for hairs on the main veins; margins often scabrid; petiole c. 1 mm long, often densely pubescent and with ciliate margins; stipule sheath 1–3 mm long, divided into 6–9(15) fimbriae, 1–5 mm long, ciliate. Inflorescences numerous, present in most axils, subglobose, up to 1.8 cm in diameter; flowers sessile or almost so; bracteoles white, 1–2 mm long. Calyx with 4 lobes, 2 narrower than the others, all with usually ciliate margins and often hairy below. Corolla white, hairless or slightly hairy outside; tube 1.4–1.9 mm long; lobes ovate, c. 1 mm long. Capsule straw-coloured, c. 1 mm long and wide. |
Type location: |
Jamaica |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | |
Habitat: | A weed of disturbed areas and road sides, by dambos and on dry rocky hills. |
Altitude range: | 500 - 1200 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Widespread in tropical Africa as far South as Angola, northern Zambia and Malawi. Also in Seychelles, Cape Verde Islands, India,Burma, New Guinea, Marianas Islands, West Indies and tropical South America. |
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca): | N |
Zambian distribution (Provinces): | Lp |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Content last updated: | Saturday 6 September 2014 |
Literature: |
Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 89. Verdcourt, B. (1988). Rubiaceae, Part 1 Flora Zambesiaca 5(1) Pages 188 - 190. (Includes a picture). |
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