Malachra radiata L.

Tropical leafbract (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Malvales > Malvaceae > Malachra

Characteristics

Herb or suffrutex 0.5-2.5 m tall, the stem erect, terete and branched, the in-dumentum of stem, branchlets and petioles conspicuously hispid with long, mostly simple, flavescent hairs, and also with scattered, short, stellate hairs. Leaves rather long-petiolate, the petiole terete, 2-9 cm long, the stipules subulate-filiform, arcu-ate-erect, ca 1 cm long, hispid; blade usually deeply (often nearly to the base) 3-or 5-palmatiparted, cordate or subcordate at the base, the segments narrowly oblong, often lobed or laciniate, with rounded sinuses and subacute at the apex, the margins serrate, up to 12 cm long and broad, gradually smaller toward the apex of the stem and branchlets, 3-or 5-palminerved, scabrous and appressed-hispid with simple and few-forked, stellate hairs on both sides, or glabrescent above, the venation slightly prominent beneath. Flowers in terminal heads; bracts shortly petiolate (outer ones) to almost sessile (inner ones), oblong-ovate or lanceolate, infrequently sublobate, expanded, obtuse or rounded at the base, acuminate at the apex, irregularly and coarsely serrate-dentate, the outer ones up to 4 cm long and 3 cm broad, 5-or 7-palminerved, hispid with simple or few-forked, stellate hairs on both sides, the main veins prominulous beneath; epicalyx of 9-12 bractlets, these subulate-filiform, 10-12 mm long, hispid; calyx herbaceous, lobed to about the middle, 8-10 mm long, hispid, accrescent, the lobes lanceolate-ovate and acute; petals 11-13 m long, pink; staminal tube 8-10 mm long; styles 10-12 mm long. Mericarps ca 4 mm long and 2.5-3 mm broad, glabrous; seeds ca 3 mm long.
Life form
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.5 - 2.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses material medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Malachra radiata habit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Distribution

Malachra radiata world distribution map, present in Argentina, Benin, Burkina Faso, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Senegal, El Salvador, South Sudan, Suriname, Chad, Togo, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:561446-1
WFO ID wfo-0000449849
COL ID 3XKCM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 895726
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Malachra gaudichaudiana Malachra radiata Sida radiata Urena radiata Urena radiata Malachra bracteata Pavonia hispida