Achyranthes

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Amaranthaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Achyranthes

  • Description

    Genus Description - Herbs or rarely shrubs. Leaves opposite and entire. Inflorescences of terminal and axillary spikes or spikelike. Bracts acuminate; bracteoles tapering to a spine. Flowers becoming reflexed; tepals (4-)5, persistent, connate at base; stamens 5, or rarely 2, alternating with pseudostaminodes and united at base into a cup; ovary with a single ovule per carpel, the style filiform and the stigma truncate. Fruit thin-walled, indehiscent, enclosed by a hardened perianth and persistent bracteoles, dispersing as a unit; seeds 1, cylindrical and brown.

  • Distribution

    A genus with less than 10 species, predominantly from the Old World.

    Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America|