Mollugo verticillata L.

Green carpetweed (en), Mollugine verticillée (fr), Mollugo verticillé (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Caryophyllales > Molluginaceae > Mollugo

Characteristics

Herbs erect or diffuse, 10-30 cm. Petiole short or leaves subsessile; basal leaves in a rosette, obovate or obovate-spatulate, 1.5-2 cm; stem leaves in pseudowhorls of 3-7, or 2 or 3 in groups on one side of node, oblanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, 1-3 cm × 1.5-4(-8) mm, yellowish green when dry, base narrowly cuneate, apex acute or obtuse. Inflorescences axillary, umbellate clusters, 3-5-flowered. Pedicel 3-5 mm, slender. Tepals 5, rarely 4, imbricate, pale or greenish white, oblong or ovate-oblong, 2.5-3 mm, margin membranous, apex acute. Stamens (2 or)3(-5). Ovary 3-loculed; styles 3. Capsule ellipsoid or subglobose, 3-4 × ca. 2.5 mm, pericarp membranous, 3-valved, apex with persistent styles, persistent tepals surrounding more than half. Seeds numerous, chestnut-colored, shiny, reniform, smooth, raphe with 3-5 arcuate ribs, between ribs with fine and closely transverse grains. Fl. and fr. autumn-winter.
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Annual herb; stems often dichotomously branched, and prostrate-spreading, or ascending, to 30(-60) cm long. Leaves in whorls or pseudowhorls of 3-6 or more per node, sessile; basal blade oblanceolate, narrowly obovate or spathulate, cauline blade oblong-linear, spathulate-lanceolate or linear, 5-35 x 0.8-13 mm, apex obtuse to acute, tapering to base. Inflorescence an axillary fascicle or umbellule, of (1-)2-5(-18) flowers; pedicels filiform, 3-15 mm long, usually shorter than leaves. Sepals 5, ovate, oblong or elliptical, 1.8-3 x 0.5-1.8 mm, acute or obtuse, 3-veined, green on veins, with white margin; petals usually absent; stamens 3(4-5), to 1.5 mm long. Capsule ovoid, ellipsoid or reniform, 2.5-3 x 1.5 mm; seeds numerous, cochleate-reniform, 0.5-0.6 mm, flattened, dark to light brown or orange, longitudinally ridged, smooth or papillose.
Annuals, prostrate to ascending, often falsely dichotomously branched. Leaves pseudoverticellate, 3-6 per node, unequal, generally oblong-linear, 1-3 cm. long, 1-2 mm. broad, more or less acute at the apex, gradually tapered to the base; sessile. Inflorescence axillary, modified cymose; pedicel 3-5 mm. long. Flowers with the tepals elliptic, about 2.0-2.5 mm. long, 0.5-0.75 mm. broad, persistent and subtending the fruit, glabrous; stamens 3, the filaments filiform, to 2 mm. long, connate at the very base, the anthers ovoid, about 0.25 mm. long and broad; ovary ovoid, 3-loculate, 1.0-1.5 mm. long, the styles 3, 0.5-0.75 mm. long, spreading. Capsule ovoid, 2-3 mm. long, about 1.5 mm. in diameter; seeds numerous, reni-form, about 0.5 mm. long and broad, the testa with several distinct ridges along the back and sides, brown.
Plants prostrate to ascending, 3-15 (-45) cm. Leaves not glaucous, in whorls of 3-8, basal rosette present, sometimes disappearing as plant matures; petiole 0.5-4 mm; blade linear to elliptic, obovate, or broadly spatulate, 5-40 × 0.5-15 mm, base cuneate, apex obtuse to rounded or acute. Inflorescences: flowers 2-6 in sessile, axillary umbels. Flowers: sepals green abaxially, white adaxially, oblong-elliptic, 1.5-2.5 × 0.5-1.2 mm, margins scarious; stamens 3[-4], alternate with carpels; pedicel erect-ascending at anthesis, erect to deflexed in fruit, 3-20 mm. Capsules ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5-3.3 × 1.4-2.2 mm. Seeds 15-35, dark or reddish brown, with blackish, parallel, curved ridges on sides, or smooth, 0.5-0.6 × 0.4-0.5 mm. 2n = 64.
Herb, annual, prostrate or decumbent, with branches to c. 30 cm long. Leaves 4–6 (seldom more) per false whorl, linear to narrowly obovate, 4–25 mm long, 0.5–3 mm wide. Flowers solitary in axils or in small umbels; pedicels c. 1–5 mm long; perianth segments obovate, c. 1–2 mm long at anthesis, enlarging slightly in fruit, green with pale membranous margin; stamens 3; stigmas almost sessile. Capsule ellipsoid, c. 2.5 mm long, slightly exceeding perianth segments. Seeds reniform, c. 0.5 mm long, dark reddish-brown, smooth and shiny with 3–7 low dorsal ridges.
Glabrous annual, repeatedly forked, forming mats to 4 dm wide; lvs in whorls of 3–8, narrowly to broadly oblanceolate, 1–3 cm, tapering to a short petiolar base; fls 2–5 from each node, on pedicels 5–15 mm, pale green or white, 4–5 mm wide; stamens 3 or 4; fr ovoid, 3 mm; seeds numerous, arcuate-ridged; 2n=64. Apparently native to tropical Amer., but now a common weed in moist soil and dunes nearly throughout temperate N. Amer. June–Sept.
A creeping herb. It is 10-30 cm high. The leaf stalk is short. The leaves near the base are in a ring and are oval and cup shaped. They are 1.5-2 cm long. The leaves on the stem are about 7 in groups of 2 or 3. They are 1-3 cm long by 1.5-4 mm wide. The flowers occur in clusters of 3-5 flowers. They are greenish white. The fruit is a capsule. It is oval and 3-4 mm long by 2.5 mm wide. It has 3 valves. There are many kidney shaped seeds.
A glabrous annual.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.15 - 0.18
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c4

Environment

Sandy river banks, roadsides and cultivated ground. A weed of fields, gardens, roadsides etc; found in moist to dry soils and sand; at elevations from sea level to 3,000 metres.
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It is a tropical and subtropical plant. It grows in barren grassland near the sea in C China. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 1,000 m above sea level.
Sandy river banks, roadsides and cultivated ground. Weedy in fields, gardens, roadsides, moist to dry soils and sand; from sea level to 3000 metres.
In seasonally damp areas.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 4-9
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The entire plant is cooked and eaten as a potherb. It is added to vegetable soups during the last minutes of cooking. They are also used in salads.
Uses medicinal potherb
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use -
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

Habit

Mollugo verticillata habit picture by William Coville (cc-by-sa)
Mollugo verticillata habit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Mollugo verticillata leaf picture by Lysa Ferrone (cc-by-sa)
Mollugo verticillata leaf picture by Seraphim Beyer (cc-by-sa)
Mollugo verticillata leaf picture by Daniel Simpson (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Mollugo verticillata flower picture by Joshua Kuykendall (cc-by-sa)
Mollugo verticillata flower picture by John McTague (cc-by-sa)
Mollugo verticillata flower picture by naomi sadlon (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Mollugo verticillata fruit picture by I Birn (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Mollugo verticillata world distribution map, present in Angola, Argentina, Australia, Benin, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bulgaria, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Central African Republic, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, France, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Mali, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Portugal, Paraguay, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Taiwan, Province of China, Uruguay, United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:280992-2
WFO ID wfo-0000448003
COL ID 43WQQ
BDTFX ID 42867
INPN ID 108736
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Mollugo chevalieri Mollugo axillaris Mollugo dichotoma Mollugo diffusa Mollugo hoffmannseggiana Mollugo juncea Mollugo spergulaefolia Mollugo triphylla Pharnaceum arenarium Pharnaceum hoffmannseggianum Pharnaceum verticellatum Mollugo costata Mollugo arenaria Mollugo schrankii Mollugo verticillata