Oxygonum sinuatum Dammer

Species

Angiosperms > Caryophyllales > Polygonaceae > Oxygonum

Characteristics

A diffuse, decumbent or erect, weedy annual.. Stems glabrous to pubescent, green to reddish brown.. Ocreae reddish, up to 5.5 mm. long, truncate, usually fringed with setae, the leaf inserted in the upper half and often near the apex.. Leaves petiolate, in outline ovate, ovate-elliptic, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, but usually deeply incised with rounded or acute lobes, often panduriform or lyrate, narrowed to each end, commonly 4 × 1.5 cm., but up to 6 × 2.7 cm., usually pustular on the undersurface, otherwise glabrous or shortly pilose on the veins.. Petioles 1–2 cm. long.. Inflorescence variably elongated, up to 28 cm. long (or more?), the stalk up to 2 mm. thick.. Bracts up to 6 cm. apart, fringed with setae.. Pedicels of hermaphrodite flowers stumpy, scarcely filiform, exceeding the bracts by 0–1 (–3) mm.; those of male flowers ± filiform, withering.. Flowers white or pink, slightly heterostylous, i.e. long-styled stigmas reaching only to the tips of the anthers or to slightly beyond, and short-styled stigmas reaching to or nearly to the anther bases (see Fig. 5/9).. Tepals ovate-elliptic, 2.5–3 mm. long; tube 1–1.5 mm. long.. Fruit fusiform, (1–) 2–4 to each bract, erect or spreading but scarcely pendulous, 5.0–6.5 mm. long when mature, pubescent or papillose, more rarely glabrous, with three spreading prickles 1.5–1.75 (–2) mm. long arising on the angles centrally or more often from just below the middle (rarely with 3 smaller, intervening prickles on the faces).
More
A herb. It grows up to 60 cm high. It is a sprawling plant and the lower parts of the stems lie along the ground. The leaves taper at each end. The leaf stalk is expanded to form a tube around the stem. This often has soft bristles at the top. This tube is 0.5 cm long. The leaves can be simple or divided into rounded lobes. The flowers are on a long leafless stem. This can be 30 cm long. The fruit has a sharp point at the top and 3 sharp prickles near the middle.
Flowers pedicellate, 2–5 in the axil of each bract, arranged in spiciform terminal or axillary racemes up to 28–45 cm long, sometimes longer; bracts up to c. 6 mm apart, obliquely truncate, acute or acuminate with a fringe of setae at the apex; pedicels of hermaphrodite flowers stout and 4–5 mm long, pedicels of male flowers filiform and withering.
Nut 5–7 mm long, fusiform, trigonous, pubescent or papillose, rarely glabrous, usually erect or spreading, seldom pendulous, with 3 spreading prickles 1.5–2 mm long on the angles, centrally or sometimes just below the middle, rarely with 3 smaller prickles on the faces between the angles.
Leaves petiolate, lamina 4–8 × 1–3 cm, ovate to ovate-elliptic or ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate in outline, usually deeply incised with 1–3 rounded or acute lobes on each side, often panduriform or lyrate, narrowed to each end, midrib prominent beneath; petioles 1–2 cm long.
Styles 2 mm long, connate at the base for c. 0.5 mm; stigmas of long-styled flowers reaching only to the tip of the anthers or to slightly beyond, stigmas of short-styled flowers reaching or nearly reaching the anther bases.
Annual herb, up to 0.6 m high. Leaves with broad lobes. Nut trigonous, conical at base and apex with sharp spreading spine from each angle below the middle, with 3 smaller prickles at centre of angles. Flowers white.
Hermaphrodite flowers slightly heterostylous; perianth white or pink, 4–5-lobed; tube 1–1.5 mm long; lobes 2.5–3(4) mm long and ovate-elliptic.
Stems green to reddish-brown, up to c. 1 m tall, branched, longitudinally striate, glabrous or pubescent.
Ocrea reddish, up to c. 5.5 mm long, truncate and fringed with setae at the apex.
Filaments 2 mm long in long-styled flowers, 1.5 mm long in short-styled flowers.
A diffuse, erect or decumbent annual herb.
Male flowers not seen.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.65
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It often grows on sandy soils. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 2,400 m altitude. In Uganda it is in areas with an annual rainfall of 1,000-1,600 mm.
More
A common weed in cultivation, along roadsides and in grasslands, at elevations from sea level to 2,400 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 7-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The leaves are cooked and eaten. They are slimy. They are made into a sauce or side dish. They are also eaten raw for their acid taste. The leaves can be dried and powdered for later use.
Uses food gene source medicinal
Edible fruits leaves shoots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

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

Images

Habit

Oxygonum sinuatum habit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum habit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum habit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Oxygonum sinuatum leaf picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum leaf picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum leaf picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Oxygonum sinuatum flower picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum flower picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum flower picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Oxygonum sinuatum fruit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum fruit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)
Oxygonum sinuatum fruit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Oxygonum sinuatum world distribution map, present in Angola, Burundi, Botswana, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Chad, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:694848-1
WFO ID wfo-0000387000
COL ID 75FKQ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 710230
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Ceratogonon cordofanum Ceratogonon sinuatum Ceratogonum cordofanum Oxygonum elongatum Ceratogonum sinuatum Oxygonum atriplicifolium var. sinuatum Oxygonum somalense var. pterocarpum Oxygonum sinuatum