Common Name: FOUR O'CLOCK FAMILY Habit: Annual, perennial herb, subshrub, [shrub, tree], glabrous or hairy. Stem: often forked. Leaf: opposite, sessile or petioled, pairs generally unequal; blade generally entire. Inflorescence: generally forked; spike, head-like cluster, or umbel, flowers rarely 1, bracts forming a calyx-like involucre or not. Flower: bisexual, generally +- radial (bilateral), sometimes cleistogamous in some genera; perianth of 1 whorl, generally petal-like, bell- to trumpet-shaped, base hardened, tightly surrounding ovary in fruit, lobes 3--5, generally notched to +- lobed; stamens 1--many; ovary superior (appearing inferior due to hardened perianth base), style 1. Fruit: achene in hardened perianth base; round to +- flat; smooth, angled, ribbed, or winged; glabrous, hairy, or glandular. Genera In Family: 30 genera, 350 species: warm regions, especially America; some ornamental (Bougainvillea; Mirabilis, four o'clock). eFlora Treatment Author: Andy Murdock, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Common Name: SPIDERLING Habit: Annual, perennial herb. Stem: prostrate to erect; internode often with sticky region. Leaf: petioled; blade 1--6 cm, paler beneath, often brown-dotted. Inflorescence: panicle-like, branches ending in umbel, spike-like raceme, or paired or solitary flowers; bracts 1--3, free, not forming involucre. Flower: closing by evening; perianth bell-shaped, tube < 5 mm, limb < 3 mm; stamens 1--5; stigma +- spheric, generally exserted. Fruit: < 4 mm, club-shaped; ribs 4--5; wings 0. Etymology: (H. Boerhaave, Dutch botanist, 1668--1738) eFlora Treatment Author: Andy Murdock Reference: Spellenberg 2003 FNANM 4:17--28; Spellenberg 2012 Phytoneuron 2012-88: 1--2
Boerhavia diffusa L.
NATURALIZED Habit: Perennial herb. Stem: decumbent to erect, < 1 m, +- glabrous. Leaf: blade broadly lanceolate to round; glabrous to minutely puberulent; Inflorescence: umbel of (2)3--5 flowers, bracts generally strongly reduced, not leaf-like. Flower: 1--1.5 mm; perianth red-purple (pale red). Fruit: 3--4.5 mm; stalked glands on ribs, less dense between; tip broadly conic. Ecology: Disturbed places, often in sand, gravel along rivers; Elevation: < 50 m. Bioregional Distribution: ScV (Yolo Co.); Distribution Outside California: tropics, subtropics worldwide. Flowering Time: +- all year Jepson eFlora Author: Andy Murdock Reference: Spellenberg 2003 FNANM 4:17--28; Spellenberg 2012 Phytoneuron 2012-88: 1--2 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Boerhavia coulteri var. palmeri Next taxon: Boerhavia triquetra var. intermedia
Citation for this treatment: Andy Murdock 2019, Boerhavia diffusa, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 7, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=15817, accessed on April 25, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 25, 2024.
No expert verified images found for Boerhavia diffusa.
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(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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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
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Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
