Laportea aestuans (L.) Chew
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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
Urticaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Herb to 50 cm tall, branching along main stem; branches 4- angled, fleshy, reddish-tinged. Leaf blades 5-15.5 x 3.6-14 cm, ovate or wide elliptic, membranous, with stinging hairs when young, becoming glabrous, 3-veined from base, lower surface with cystoliths, the apex acute or short-acuminate, the base cordate to truncate, the margins dentate; petioles slender, 2-13.5 cm long; stipules linear, 2.5-5 mm long. Flowers greenish, in panicles 2 - 20 cm long. Staminate flowers terminal on inflorescence branches; tepals oblong, ca. 1 mm long, imbricate; stamens nearly sessile. Pistillate flowers naked. Achene 1-1.5 mm long, obliquely ovoid-flattened.
Distribution and Ecology - Occasional in open disturbed areas. Bethany (B258), Susannaberg (A3807). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; throughout tropical and subtropical America.