Acalypha ciliata Forssk.

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha

Characteristics

An erect slender annual herb up to 1 m. tall.. Stems sparingly crisped-puberulous and sometimes also slightly pilose.. Petioles up to 7.5 cm. long; leaf-blade ovate, elliptic-ovate or occasionally ovate-lanceolate, 4–10 cm. long, 1.5–5 cm. wide, acutely or subacutely caudate-acuminate, cuneate, rounded or scarcely subcordate, crenate-serrate, membranous, 3–5-nerved at the base, lateral nerves 4–5 pairs, sparingly pubescent above and beneath, more particularly on the midrib, lateral and tertiary nerves, later glabrescent above.. Stipules filiform, 2 mm. long, very sparingly pubescent.. Inflorescences spicate, axillary, solitary or paired, up to 5 cm. long, densely flowered, the lower third to two-thirds ♂, the upper part ♂, sometimes terminated by an allomorphic ♀ flower on a pedicel up to 5 mm. long; axis sparingly crisped-puberulous; ♂ bracts minute; ♀ bracts transversely ovate, accrescent to up to 6 mm. long and 12 mm. wide, laciniate-multifid, the segments variable, ranging from 1.5 mm. long, lanceolate and curved forwards to 3 mm. long, filiform and patent, ciliate, glabrous, subglabrous or sparingly pubescent or pilose, occasionally with an admixture of glandular hairs, without and within, ribbed, 1-flowered.. Male flowers subsessile; buds 4-gonous, minutely granular-tuberculate.. Female flowers sessile; sepals 3, ovate-lanceolate, 1 mm. long, ciliate; ovary subtrilobate, 0.3 mm. diameter, sparingly pubescent above; styles ± free to the base, 2 mm. long, laciniate, white.. Allomorphic ♀ flowers obovoid, with 2 lateral and 1 basal fimbriate whorls, pubescent.. Fruit trilobate, 1.5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. diameter, smooth, subglabrous.. Seeds ovoid-subglobose, 1.3 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, ± smooth, brown, with a flattened elliptic caruncle.
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Inflorescences up to 3 cm long, spicate, axillary, often paired, male in the upper half, female in the lower, sometimes terminated by a solitary allomorphic female flower; male bracts minute; female bracts accrescent to up to 6 × 10 mm, transversely ovate, multifid-laciniate, the teeth up to 4 mm long, linear to filiform, separate, erect, ciliate, the bracts as a whole sparingly pubescent or ± glabrous, ribbed, 1-flowered.
Leaf blades 2–10 × 1–5.5 cm, ovate, elliptic-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, caudate-acuminate at the apex, crenate-serrate, cuneate or rounded at the base, membranous, subglabrous or sparingly pubescent on both surfaces, and more evenly so along the midrib and main nerves beneath, 3–5-nerved from the base; lateral nerves in 4–6 pairs.
Female flowers sessile; sepals 3, 1 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, ciliate; ovary 0.3 mm in diameter, somewhat 3-lobed, sparingly pubescent above; styles 2 mm long, ± free, laciniate, white. Allomorphic female flowers obovoid, rugulose, with or without a pair of fimbriate whorls near the top, pubescent.
A slender herb. It grows 1 m tall. The leaves are arranged singly. They are on long stalks. The leaves are 3-8 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. The flowers are above small leafy bracts. The flower stalks have separate male and female flowers. The fruit have 3 lobes.
Herb, up to 1.3 m high. Leaves ovate, lamina up to 100 x 55 mm, acuminate, puberulous. Teeth of female bract linear to filiform, separate and erect. Flowers green.
Male flowers subsessile; buds minute, tetragonal, granular-tuberculate, greenish; anthers yellow.
Seeds 1.3 × 1 mm, ovoid, ± smooth, brown, shiny, with a flattened, elliptic caruncle.
An erect, slightly pubescent branched annual, to 21/2 ft. high.
An erect, slender, unbranched annual herb up to 1.3 m tall.
Fruits 1.5 × 2.5 mm, 3-lobed, smooth, subglabrous.
Stipules 1 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, ciliate.
Petioles up to 7 cm long.
Stems puberulous.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality -
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Mature height (meter) 0.93 - 1.0
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Environment

It is a tropical plant. It grows best in good soils and damp conditions. It can grow in hot arid conditions with a marked dry season. It grows along rivers. In southern Africa it grows between 300-1,000 m altitude. It can grow in arid places. In Pakistan it grows between 600-1,800 m altitude.
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Cultivated land and forest shade. Open and wooded grassland; in deciduous and coastal bushland. often in rocky or damp localities; near lakes and on flood plains, at elevations from sea level up to 1,650 metres.
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The leaves are picked and washed and cut into small pieces then boiled or fried. They are used in porridge and soup.
Uses animal food food material medicinal social use
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use -
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Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
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Images

Acalypha ciliata unspecified picture

Distribution

Acalypha ciliata world distribution map, present in Angola, Benin, Bangladesh, Botswana, Central African Republic, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Sri Lanka, Mali, Mozambique, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:337266-1
WFO ID wfo-0000809786
COL ID 64BHD
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Acalypha rubra Ricinocarpus ciliatus Acalypha ciliata Acalypha ciliata var. trichophora