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Electronic Flora of South Australia species Fact Sheet

Family: Nyctaginaceae
Boerhavia coccinea

Citation: Miller, Gard. Dict. edn 8 (1768).

Synonymy: Boerhavia diffusa, Boerhavia mutabilis, Boerhavia pubescens, Boerhavia repens

Common name: None

Description:
Annual or perennial herbs with a woody tap root, sprawling or ascending; stems to 60 cm or more long, densely glandular-hairy with hairs more than 0.5 mm long predominating; leaf blades narrow-ovate or -elliptic to ovate, obtuse or acute, usually 12-50 X 7-25 mm, hairy on both surfaces; petioles usually 2-25 mm long.

Inflorescences terminal or lateral, often compressed; peduncle rigid, stout, to 3 cm long; flowers pink, mauve or white, sessile or very shortly pedicellate, in groups of 3-10; perianth glandular-hairy, the upper part companulate and c. 2 mm long; stamens usually 3, c. 1.5 mm long; style c. 3 mm long, exserted.

Fruit fusiform or narrowly club-shaped, c. 4 mm long, c. 1.5 mm wide; ribs 5, obtuse, glandular-hairy; furrows narrow.

Published illustration: Meikle & Hewson (1984) Flora of Australia 4:fig. 3.

Distribution:  S.Aust.: NW, LE, GT, FR, EA, EP, NL, MU.   W.Aust.; N.T.; Qld; N.S.W., and common in the tropics elsewhere.

Conservation status: native

Flowering time: probably in all months.


SA Distribution Map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Taxonomic notes: This species is usually readily separable from the other northern species, B. schomburgkiana, on the density and length of stem hairs, but different branches on the same plant can show the characteristics of the different species.

Author: Not yet available


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