Alternanthera
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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
Amaranthaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Genus Description - Prostrate or scandent annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubs. Leaves opposite and entire. Inflorescence of axillary or terminal, globose to cylindrical heads or short spikes. Bracts usually scarious; bracteoles boat-shaped. Tepals (4-)5, free, subequal, or outer longer; stamens 5, rarely 3 or 4, alternating with triangular interstaminal appendages, free or united into a short tube; ovary nearly globose or obovoid, of a single ovule carpel, the style of variable length, the stigma capitate. Fruit a thin-walled, flattened utricle, with persistent tepals, usually dispersed as a unit; seeds solitary, lenticular, smooth.
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Distribution
A predominantly neotropical genus, with about 150 species.
Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|