Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Malpighiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Acalypha gracilens
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Slender Threeseed Mercury at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Acalypha gracilens
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 12 (2016)
Acalypha gracilens
SYNONYMOUS WITH World checklist of Euphorbiaceae (Govaerts, Frodin & Radcliffe-Smith, 2000)
Acalypha virginica var. gracilens
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 107-04-002:
Acalypha gracilens FAMILY Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Acalypha gracilens
COMMON NAME:
Slender Threeseed Mercury, Slender Copperleaf, Shortstalk Copperleaf
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_acgr2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm230720_4586
July Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_acalypha_gracilens_1
July Catawba County NC
Stems erect, pubescent. Leaf petioles 0.2-1.2(-1.8)cm, per Flora of North America.
)
Terry Holdsclaw tdh_acalypha_gracilens_2
August Catawba County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm160907_069
September Greenville County SC
Leaves 3-6× as long as wide, the largest < 2 cm wide, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
)
JK Marlow jkm160907_072
September Greenville County SC
Inflorescences axillary, bisexual (pistillate flowers proximal, staminate distal), per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm200920_7311
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Leaves pubescent, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, apex obtuse, margin crenate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200920_7311b
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Lobes of the pistillate bracts deltate, 1/10–1/4 bract length, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm200920_7313
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm231019_6117
October Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Acalypha gracilens
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Acalypha gracilens
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 12
Acalypha gracilens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
World checklist of Euphorbiaceae (Govaerts, Frodin & Radcliffe-Smith, 2000)
Acalypha virginica var. gracilens
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 107-04-002:
Acalypha gracilens
FAMILY
Euphorbiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Acalypha gracilens
2965
Forb
Annual
Monoecious
Habitat: woodlands, disturbed ground, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in NC Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Does not have milky sap
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stinging trichomes absent
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Petioles 2-12(18)mm long
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
3-5 sepals in pistillate flowers, 4 sepals in staminate flowers
Petals absent
4-8(-16?) stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p226
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p006
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p465
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p046
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p177
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