Alternanthera

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Amaranthaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Alternanthera

  • 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.

  • Distribution

    A predominantly neotropical genus, with about 150 species.

    Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|