Kallstroemia maxima (L.) Hook. & Arn.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Zygophyllaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Kallstroemia maxima (L.) Hook. & Arn.

  • Description

    Species Description - Prostrate herb, to 1 m long, many-branched from a subwoody base; stems reddish- or pinkish-tinged, cylindrical, striate. Leaflets opposite, in 3-4 pairs, the distal leaflets much larger than the basal ones, 0.7-2 x 0.4-0.9 cm, inequilateral, oblong-oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, chartaceous, sparsely appressed-pubescent to glabrescent, the apex obtuse, the base asymmetrical, obtuserounded, the margins entire, ciliate; petioles 0.5-1 cm long, appressed-pubescent; stipules subulate, 5 mm long, straw-colored. Flowers solitary, axillary; peduncles 1-4 cm long. Sepals green, lanceolate, 4-5 mm long, strigose; petals 7-8 mm long, orangeyellow, greenish at base, obovate, spreading to slightly reflexed; filaments greenish, ascending, much shorter than the petals; ovary green, turbinate-ovoid, the style conical. Schizocarp conical, 6- 6.5 mm long, 10-lobed; mericarps tuberculate, glabrous, indehiscent.

    Distribution and Ecology - A common roadside weed of open, disturbed, dry areas. Enighed (A4270), Lind Point (A3162). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; Texas to northern South America including the West Indies.

  • Discussion

    Common names: centipede root, longlo