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Vascular Plants of California
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Phytolacca icosandra
TROPICAL POKEWEED


Higher Taxonomy
Family: PhytolaccaceaeView Description 
Common Name: POKEWEED FAMILY
Habit: [Annual to] perennial herb [to tree], generally +- glabrous. Leaf: alternate, simple, entire, generally petioled; stipules 0 or vestigial. Inflorescence: spike, raceme [panicle], [axillary or] terminal (then often lateral, +- opposite a leaf, by growth of bud axillary to that leaf); bract 1; bractlets 2. Flower: generally bisexual, radial; sepals [4]5[10], fused at base, generally persistent; petals 0; stamens 4--many, generally on disk, free or fused at base, in 1--2 whorls or not; carpels generally 1--12, [free] to fused, ovary generally superior, carpels = styles, chambers in number, ovules 1 per chamber, stigmas linear or thread-like. Fruit: berry [achene, capsule, drupe, nut, samara].
Genera In Family: +- 18 genera, 130 species: +- worldwide, especially American tropics, subtropics. Note: A broad family concept adopted here, as many as 6 segregate families sometimes recognized by others.
eFlora Treatment Author: John W. Thieret, final revision by Thomas J. Rosatti
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: PhytolaccaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Habit: Perennial herb [to tree]; axes often +- red to purple. Flower: sepals 5[8], petal-like; stamens generally 5--30; carpels 5--12, +- fused. Fruit: berry, chambers 5--12. Seed: 1 per chamber.
Etymology: (Greek, Latin: plant, crimson dye, from fruit color)
Phytolacca icosandra L.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Plant to 3 m. Leaf: blade < 30 cm, 15 cm wide, elliptic to obovate (lanceolate); petiole 0.5--6 cm. Inflorescence: spike or spike-like, < 30 cm; peduncle < 10 cm; pedicel 0 or 0.5--2(4) mm. Flower: sepals equal, < 3 mm, broadly elliptic, white or pink to pale +- red; stamens (8)10--22(30), generally in 2 whorls; carpels generally 6--10, fused. Fruit: 7--8 mm diam, purple-black. Seed: 2.5--3 mm, thickly lenticular, black, shiny.
Ecology: Disturbed areas, chrome ore piles; Elevation: 10--400 m. Bioregional Distribution: SCo (San Diego Co.), PR (Otay Mtn); Distribution Outside California: Arizona, Maryland; northern Mexico to northern South America. Flowering Time: Summer--winter Note: Some authors including Phytolacca octandra L.
Jepson eFlora Author: John W. Thieret, final revision by Thomas J. Rosatti
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Citation for this treatment: John W. Thieret, final revision by Thomas J. Rosatti 2012, Phytolacca icosandra, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38170, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

No expert verified images found for Phytolacca icosandra.



Geographic subdivisions for Phytolacca icosandra:
SCo (San Diego Co.), PR (Otay Mtn)
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).