Pilea glaberrima (Blume) Blume

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Urticaceae > Pilea

Characteristics

Herbs perennial, weak, or subshrubs, stoloniferous, glabrous, dioecious, rarely monoecious. Stems gray green, erect, ascending, or scandent, often branched, longitudinally several angled when dry, to 1.5 m tall, woody at base, densely covered with cystoliths. Stipules persistent, triangular, connate at base, ca. 2 mm, papery; petiole unequal in length, 1.5-5 cm; leaf blade adaxially pale green, ovate, elliptic, oblong-or elliptic-lanceolate, asymmetric, unequal in size, 6-15 × 2.5-7 cm, herbaceous, 3-veined, lateral veins many, transverse, reticulate, cystoliths adaxial, minute, often punctate or mixed with shortly fusiform ones, sometimes inconspicuous, base rounded, obtuse or cuneate, margin shallowly serrate or shallowly crenate sometimes subentire from middle part, apex acuminate. Inflorescences solitary, male a paniculate cyme, usually shorter than subtending petiole; female ones much shorter. Male flowers sessile, in bud ca. 1 mm; perianth lobes 4; stamens 4; rudimentary ovary small, subulate. Female flowers subsessile, in bud ca. 0.6 mm; perianth lobes connate at base, unequal, abaxial lobe cymbiform, longer, subapically corniculate; staminodes 3, inconspicuous, scale-like, oblong. Achene brownish red, ovoid, ca. 1 mm, compressed, inconspicuously verrucose. Fl. May-Sep, fr. Oct-Nov.
More
A herb. It grows about 1 m high. The leaves have stalks. The leaves are oval to sword shaped. They taper to the tip. They have 3 veins. They narrow towards the base. The flowers are white or yellow. The fruit is dry and smooth.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 1.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A subtropical plant. It grows in Nepal between 300-2000 m altitude. In Indonesia it grows between 1,000-2,000 m above sea level. It grows in moist, rocky places. In Yunnan.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 7-11

Usage

The tender leaves are cooked as a vegetable.
Uses food medicinal
Edible leaves
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed or root offshoots.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 14 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 23
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Pilea glaberrima world distribution map, present in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, India, Myanmar, and Nepal

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:855428-1
WFO ID wfo-0001223974
COL ID 4HSRT
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Pilea miconiifolia Urtica smilacifolia Pilea goglado Urtica glaberrima Pilea glaberrima Pilea smilacifolia Adike glaberrima Adicea smilacifolia