Pavonia spinifex (L.) Cav.
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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
Malvaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Subshrubs 1-2 m tall; stems minutely pubescent to glabrate, the hairs often in well-defined longitudinal rows. Leaf blades ovate, 4-12 x 2-8 cm, sparsely stellate-pubescent to glabrate beneath, with simple hairs above, the apex acute, the base truncate or somewhat cordate, the margins irregularly crenate-serrate; petioles 0.5-3(-5) cm long. Rowers solitary, axillary; pedicels 1- 3(-4) cm long; bracts of involucel 5-8, lanceolate or slightly spatulate, subequal to calyx. Calyx 8-11 mm long, ca. halfdivided, the lobes ciliate with hairs 1-2 mm long; petals 18-27 mm long, yellow; androecium slightly exserted from corolla; styles slender, exserted. Fruit schizocarpic, 8-10 mm diam.; mericarps 3-spined, the spines retrorsely barbed, 6 or more mm long, the central spine erect, the lateral spines divergent.
Distribution and Ecology - Occasional in open disturbed areas such as roadsides and waste grounds. Solomon Bay close to Research Center (A2293), road to Bordeaux (A3836). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; the southeastern United States, the Bahaman Archipelago, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles, but not in South America (where it has frequently been cited as a result of misidentifications of related species)