Cypselea humifusa Turpin
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Aizoaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Prostrate, mat-forming, perennial herb, many-branched from a taprooted base; main branches fleshy and almost cylindrical, to 10 cm long. Leaves opposite; blades 1-6 x 0.7-5 mm (one of them smaller), elliptic, oval, or obovate, fleshy, glabrous, the apex rounded, the base obtuse or rounded, the margins papillose; petioles 0.5-2 mm long. Stipules with fimbriate margins, decurrent from the petiole, forming a sheath around the stem. Secondary branches short, with clustered leaves, alternate along the main branch and opposite to the larger leaf of the opposite pair. Flowers solitary in leaf axil. Pedicels ca. 2 mm long; calyx funnel-shaped, whitish, ca. 2 mm long, not keeled, papillose externally; the sepals 5, 1 mm long; corolla lacking; stamens 5, white, adnate to the sepals; ovary rounded, 2-celled; stigmas short and papillose. Capsule thin, circumscissile at base, with axile placentation. Seeds numerous, lenticular, light brown, ca. 0.3 mm long, with threadlike placental tissue.
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Distribution
Uncommon, in marshy areas. Chocolate Hole (W709), Hurricane Hole (A2832). Also on Anegada and St. Thomas; southern United States, Greater Antilles, and Guadeloupe.
Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Guadeloupe South America| United States of America North America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Anegada Virgin Islands South America|