Gomphrena
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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 erect herbs, usually many-branched from base. Leaves opposite, short-petiolate or sessile, usually clasping at base. Flowers bisexual, nearly sessile, produced in terminal or axillary, globose or cylindrical heads; bracts and bracteoles membranous or nearly coriaceous, whitish or various-colored; tepals 5, free or united at base, usually pubescent; stamens 5, the filaments fused into a long tube, each filament with 2 apical lobes; interstaminal appendages absent; ovary nearly globose, with 1 ovule, the style of variable length, the stigmas 2, erect or divergent. Fruit an irregularly dehiscent, 1-seeded utricle; seeds lenticular.
Distribution and Ecology - About 100 species, mostly native to tropical America.