Volume 8 > Part 1 > Year 2005 > Page 29 > Euphorbiaceae > Acalypha

6. Acalypha lanceolata Willd.wfo-0000959997

Sp. Pl. ed. 4: 524. 1805; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 206. 1972; Chin. Limestone Fl. Males. I: 220. 1973; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 51. 1973: Radcliffe-Smith, Kew Bull. 28: 526–528. fig. 1E. 1974; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. Add. Ser. 8: 18. 1980; Kew Bull. 36: 247. 1981; Kew Bull. 37: 4. 1982; Philcox in Dassan. & Fosberg, Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 11: 133. 1997.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Annual herb, 15–100 cm high; stem erect, terete, branched, longitudinal grooved, pubescent. Stipules linear, 1.5–3.5 mm, pubescent. Leaves: petiole terete, 2–6(–8) cm long, pubescent; blade ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 3–7(–8.5) by 2–4(–5) cm, chartaceous; base obtuse or cuneate, sometimes with 2 caducous appendages; margin crenulate-serrate; apex acuminate; pubescent on both surfaces; nerves in 4–6 pairs. Inflorescences solitary, bisexual, axillary, 2–6 cm long, single (or paired), short staminate flowers grouped apically, pistillate flowers at base. Staminate flowers 4–7 per node; bracts ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 0.6–1 by ca 0.2 mm, pubescent outside; buds subglobular, 0.3–0.7 mm in diam.; pedicel 0.1–0.2 mm long; sepals 4, ovate, ca 0.5 by 0.3 mm, glandular outside. Pistillate flowers single per node; bracts cup shaped, reniform when expanded, 2–4 by 4–6 mm, margin minutely serrate with 10–14 teeth, hispid with glandular hairs; sepals 3, ovate, 0.8–1 by 0.3–0.5 mm, hispid with glandular hairs; ovary subglobular, 1–1.5 mm in diam., hispid; stigmas 0.8–2 mm long. Fruits 3-lobed, subglobular, 1.8–2.2 by 2–2.8 mm, hispid with glandular hairs. Seeds ovoid, 1.2–1.8 by ca 1 mm. Sometimes 1–3 irregular pistillate flowers between staminate and normal pistillate flowers; pedicel 0.5–2 mm long; sepals 3, ovate-lanceolate, pubescent; style 1, attached at base of ovary, apex fimbriate; ovary 1-locular; fruits indehiscent, oblate, 2–3 by ca 2 mm, pubescent, with longitudinal suture in the center, appendages cup-shaped at apex, 1.5–2 mm wide, and fimbriate at apex.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Lampang, Nakhon Sawan; NORTH-EASTERN: Khon Kaen; EASTERN: Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan; CENTRAL: Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Saraburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi; PENINSULAR: Krabi, Trang.

Distribution : India (type), Sri Lanka, China, Indochina, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Maluku, Sulawesi, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Polynesia.

Ecology : Weeds in cultivations, along roadsides, 0–500 m alt.

Vernacular : Tamyae sifan laem (ตำแยซี่ฟันแหลม).

Uses: It is used as medication for headache in Indo-China.