Alternanthera sessilis
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| Alternanthera sessilis | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R.Br. ex DC. |
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[edit] Synonyms
Alternanthera glabra Moq.; Gomphrena sessilis L.
[edit] Common name
Sessile Joyweed; Dwarf Copperleaf
[edit] Origin
Occurs around the world.
The leaves are used as a vegetable.[1] Young shoots and leaves are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asia. Occasionally it is cultivated for food or for use in herbal medicines.
Classified as a weed in parts of the southern States of the USA.
Usually (but not always especially in areas of high humidity where it can even be a garden weed) found in wet or damp spots.
[edit] Description
Perennial herb, with prostrate stems, rarely ascending, often rooting at the nodes. Leaves obovate to broadly elliptic, occasionally linear-lanceolate, 1-15 cm long, 0.3-3 cm wide, glabrous to sparsely villous, petioles 1-5 mm long. Flowers in sessile spikes, bract and bracteoles shiny white, 0.7-1.5 mm long, glabrous; sepals equal, 2.5-3 mm long, outer ones 1-nerved or indistinctly 3-nerved toward base; stamens 5, 2 sterile. In the wild it flowers from December till March.
[edit] Notes
This plant is available in the aquarium trade though it will not grow submerse for anything but short periods. However it can be useful in the tropical pond or terrarium though needs restriction as it can grow and propagate quickly under good conditions.
[edit] References
- ^ Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
