NameThatPlant.net: Boerhavia erecta

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Boerhavia erecta FAMILY Nyctaginaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Read more about Erect Spiderling at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Boerhavia erecta FAMILY Nyctaginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Boerhavia erecta

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Boerhavia erecta

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 067-02-002:

Boerhavia erecta FAMILY Nyctaginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Boerhaavia erecta

COMMON NAME:
Erect Spiderling, Smooth Hogweed

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Boerhavia erecta, Erect Spiderling, Smooth Hogweed

Keith Bradley kab_b_erecta_77394

September Miami-Dade County FL

Lucille Hammock Preserve

Flowers without calyx-like involucres, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Boerhavia erecta FAMILY Nyctaginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Boerhavia erecta FAMILY Nyctaginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Boerhavia erecta

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Boerhavia erecta

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 067-02-002:
Boerhavia erecta FAMILY Nyctaginaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Boerhaavia erecta

3914

Forb
Annual

Habitat: Sandy fields, roadsides, disturbed areas, railroad yards, per Weakley's Flora

Native to Florida & possibly GA; introduced in the Carolinas

Uncommon in Coastal Plain, rare in Piedmont

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves have petioles.

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Calyx white to pink, petaloid
5-lobed campanulate-to-rotate, petaloid calyx
Petals absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual

Flowers in dichasial panicles

FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Achene

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"We treasure pictures and sculpture. We regard Attic temples and Roman triumphal arches and Gothic cathedrals as of priceless value. But we are, as a whole, still in that low state of civilization where we do not understand that it is also vandalism wantonly to destroy or permit the destruction of what is beautiful in nature, whether it be a cliff, a forest, or a species of mammal or bird. Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals — not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements." — Theodore Roosevelt

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".
Or try alternate spellings: If "wooly" doesn't work, try "woolly" or just "wool".