Ammannia coccinea Rottb.
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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
Lythraceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect, glabrous subshrub to 50 cm tall, many-branched from near the base; stems 4-angled, reddish, with 4 longitudinal ribs, one along each corner. Leaves sessile, ascending, 1.5-5 x 0.2- 1 cm, linear, linear-lanceolate, oblong-elliptic, coriaceous, becoming reddish with age, the apex acute or obtuse, the base auriculate, clasping the stem, the margins strongly revolute. Flowers 1-5 in axillary cymes; bracts minute, oblong, persistent; peduncle 0-2 mm long, stout; hypanthium bell-shaped, green, 8-keeled; calyx teeth triangular, alternating with accessory teeth; petals 4, purplepink, ca. 2 mm long, ascending, obovate, early deciduous; stamens 4-7, as long as the petals, the filaments purple-pink; ovary ovoid, reddish-tinged, the style filiform 1.5-2.5 mm long, the stigma capitate, yellow. Capsule nearly globose, 4-5 mm diam., the hypanthium persistent, with 4-8 faint, longitudinal lines. Seeds numerous, nearly ovoid, ca. 0.4 mm long, yellowish brown.
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Distribution
Occasional in moist open areas and in salt flats along the coast. Fortsberg (A4080), Lameshur (A3199). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; eastern North America to northern South America, including the West Indies.
West Indies| South America| North America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|