Volume 5 > Part 3 > Year 1991 > Page 372 > Nyctaginaceae > Boerhavia

2. Boerhavia erecta L.wfo-0000567944

Sp. Pl.: 3. 1753; Stemmerik in Fl. Males. 1, 6: 454. 1964; K.Larsen in Fl. C.L.V. 24: 112. 1989. Fig. 82: 10–11.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Slender herb, up to 80 cm, puberulous particularly towards apex. Leaves thin, ovate-oblong to lanceolate with rounded to truncate base; apex acute, 2–3.5 by 1–2.5 cm; flower surface often whitish and with inserted red glands. Petioles 2–4 cm. Inflorescences an open panicle; ultimate branches with cymes, 2–3 flowers, with peduncle 1.5–2 cm. Pedicels 0.5–5 mm. Perianth white, pink or red, tubular-campanulate, ca 2 mm, constricted about the middle. Stamens 1–2, exserted for 0.5 mm as the stigma. Anthocarp obconical, broadest at the truncate apex, glabrous, with 5 strongly marked ribs, star-shaped in cross-section.

Thailand : EASTERN: Nakhon Ratchasima; CENTRAL: Lop Buri, Saraburi, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Pachuap Khiri Khan.

Distribution : Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and probably elsewhere in SE Asia, Pacific Islands (from Flora of China.

Ecology : As Boerhavia diffusa but much rarer, only a dozen collections from Thailand and so far none from Indochina; even if it has been overlooked in several places, it is no doubt a rare species in our area.

Vernacular : Ya nuat maeo (หญ้าหนวดแมว)(Central); phak khom hin (ผักขมหิน)(Peninsular).