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Clidemia hirta D.Don

Soapbush (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Myrtales > Melastomataceae > Clidemia

Characteristics

Terrestrial shrub or facultative epiphyte 1–3 m. high; stem hirsute.. Leaves slightly anisophyllous; lamina ovate to broadly ovate, up to 15 cm. long and 8 cm. wide, abruptly acuminate, base rounded to subcordate, margin crenate and long-ciliate, sparsely hirsute above and on the venation beneath, 5-nerved; nerves impressed above, prominent beneath, parallel venation prominent beneath; petiole up to 2.5 cm. long, hirsute.. Inflorescence axillary, 5–12-flowered; flowers 5-merous.. Calyx-tube campanulate, 4.5–5 mm. long, hirsute; lobes obscure, rounded-triangular, ± 0.5–1 mm. long; calyx-lobe appendages subulate, ± 4 mm. long, hirsute.. Petals obovate-oblong, 8–11 mm. long, white to pale mauve.. Stamens equal; anthers subulate, 4.5 mm. long; anther connective produced ± 0.2–0.3 mm. with a minute posterior lobe.. Ovary adnate to the calyx-tube for one third of its length, tipped with a terete, glabrous neck; style ± 8 mm. long.. Fig. 20.
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Shrub 1-3 m. tall, hirsute throughout with simple hairs; petioles 0.5-3 cm. long; leaf-blades ovate, 5-15 cm. long, often unequal in each pair, short-acuminate, serrulate or entire, rounded to subcordate at base, 5-to 7-nerved; flowers numerous in loosely branched cymes 3-5 cm. long, 5-merous or more commonly 6-merous; hypanthium campanulate, about 5 mm. long; calyx about 1 mm. long, truncate or obscurely lobed, the exterior teeth slender, projecting about 3 mm.; petals white, oblong-obovate, 8-11 mm. long; anthers about 5 mm. long, the connective minutely prolonged below the filament into a dorsal spur; ovary glabrous.
A slightly woody herb or shrub. It grows up to 1 m high. The stem is hairy. The flowers are small. The leaves have pleated surfaces. It can produce 5,000 seeds each year. One fruit can have 100 seeds. The fruit are purple. The fruit are edible.
Pending.
Life form perennial
Growth form shrub
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 1.0 - 2.25
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Moist or wet mixed forest or thickets, often in second growth; at elevations up to 1,300 metres but most commonly at the lower elevations.
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A tropical plant. It grows in the humid lowlands. It can grow in shady places. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The fruit are eaten raw. The seeds are also eaten.
Uses medicinal
Edible fruits seeds
Therapeutic use Cataplasm (unspecified), Sore (unspecified), Wound (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Clidemia hirta unspecified picture

Distribution

Clidemia hirta world distribution map, present in Australia, Brazil, Panama, Thailand, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:567621-1
WFO ID wfo-0001080580
COL ID W57C
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 532863
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Clidemia hirta Melastoma hirtum Melastoma elegans Clidemia elegans Staphidium elegans Clidemia benthamiana Staphidium benthamianum Maieta hirta Clidemia hirta var. hirta Clidemia hirta var. elegans Clidemia hirta var. chrysantha

Lower taxons

Clidemia hirta var. tiliifolia
WorldFloraDB 2024