Wissadula amplissima (L.) R.E.Fr.
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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 - Shrub to 2 m tall, usually unbranched below the inflorescence, with stipitate stellate hairs (notably at apex of petioles) and also minutely puberulent. Leaf blades orbiculate or ovate, 4-12 x 5.5-8 cm, discolorous, the apex acuminate, the base deeply cordate, the margins entire; petioles 4-7 cm long (reduced upward). Inflorescence an open terminal panicle, more or less leafless, with long-pedicellate flowers. Calyx 3 mm long, ca. half-divided; petals 5 mm long, yellowish; androecium included, yellowish, the filaments longer than the column. Fruit minutely puberulent; mericarps 3-5, constricted below, bulbous-apiculate above, 6-7 mm long, minutely puberulent. Seeds 3, 2.5 mm long, patchily pubescent.
Distribution and Ecology - A common roadside weed. Between Bethany and Rosenberg (B216), Coral Bay (A4001), Fish Bay area (W676). Also on St. Croix and Tortola (fide Britton, 1918; Britton & Wilson, 1924: 548); Texas and the West Indies to northern South America and parts of Africa.