Volume 15 > Part 1 > Year 2021 > Page 143 > Rubiaceae > Spermacoce

7. Spermacoce verticillata L.wfo-0000312826

Sp. Pl.: 102. 1753; Ridsdale in Dassan., Revis. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 12: 334. 1998; Harwood in K.M.Wong et al., Fl. Singapore 13: 298, fig. 74D. 2019.— Borreria verticillata (L.) G. Mey., Prim. Fl. Esseq.: 83. 1818.— Bigelovia verticillata (L.) Spreng., Syst. Veg. 1: 404. 1824.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Annual erect herbs to 80 cm tall. Leaves linear or narrowly elliptic, 2–12 by 0.2–0.9 cm, base acute to cuneate, apex acute, some scabrid hairs near margin, otherwise glabrous, thinly coriaceous, lateral veins 3–4 pair. Inflorescences terminal and axillary; glomerules to 1.5 cm diam. Calyx lobes 2, green, triangular, to 1.3 mm long. Corolla white, 1.5–2.5 mm long; tube to 1.5 mm long, glabrous except for a band of moniliform hairs inside near middle; lobes to 1 mm long, outside glabrous or an occasional hair near apex. Stamens exserted from corolla tube, equal to or exceeding corolla lobes; anthers to 0.5 mm long. Style equal to or slightly exceeding corolla lobes; stigma bilobed. Capsule to 3 by 1 mm, 2-lobed, hairs mostly restricted to upper half, part of septum lamellae remaining attached to valves at dehiscence. Seeds dark brown, oblong, to 2 by 0.5 mm; seed surface reticulate.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Tak; NORTH-EASTERN: Si Saket; EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima; PENINSULAR: Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani.

Distribution : Tropical and subtropical America (S America to Paraguay, type from Jamaica), naturalized throughout tropics of Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Ecology : Open disturbed areas, roadsides, found over sandstone, sea level to 1,100 m alt. Flowering and fruiting: July–October.

Vernacular : Chat sam chan (ฉัฅรสามชั้น)(Petchaburi); ya khi kratai (หญ้าขี้กระต่าย)(Prachinburi).

Notes: The seeds of Spermacoce verticillata are long and narrow, the length to width ratio much larger than in the other Spermacoce species in Thailand.