Pilea nummulariifolia (Sw.) Wedd.
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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 - Creeping, monoecious or dioecious herb, with numerous lateral branches 10-50 cm long; rooting at nodes; stems slender, pilose. Leaf blades 0.8-2.5 x 0.8-2 cm, ovate to orbicular, chartaceous, pilose, 3-veined from base, the lower surface with numerous linear cystoliths, the apex rounded or obtuse, the base rounded, truncate, or cordate, the margins deeply crenate; petioles slender, pilose, 0.5-2.6 cm long; stipules ovate, 2-3 mm long. Flowers greenish, staminate and pistillate on different densely flowered cvmose inflorescences, shorter than the subtending leaf. Staminate flowers in sessile cymes; perianth 1.5-2.3 mm long. Pistillate flowers in peduncled axillary cymes; perianth ca. 0.5 mm long. Achene ca. 0.5 mm long, yellowish brown, smooth, ellipsoid.
Distribution and Ecology - An occasional herb of moist, shaded habitats. Adrian Ruins (W865). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; throughout the West Indies.