2335.000 Alternanthera Forssk.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs with entire, opposite leaves. Inflorescences of axillary heads or short spikes, bracteate. Flowers bisexual, solitary in the axil of each bract, subtended by 2 bracteoles. Tepals 5, glabrous and 1-nerved or barbed-pilose and 3-nerved, free, equal or unequal. Stamens 2-5, alternating with pseudostaminodes. Fruit an indehiscent capsule.

Derivation of name: alterno meaning alternate, anthera meaning male flowers, referring to the alternation of stamens and pseudostaminodes.

Worldwide: c. 200 species, mainly in the New World tropics; some worldwide weeds

Caprivi: 2 taxa.

Links to taxa: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

Species	Content
pungens Kunth	Description, Image
sessilis (L.) DC.	Description, Image

Other sources of information about Alternanthera:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Alternanthera
Flora of Burundi: Alternanthera
Flora of Malawi: Alternanthera
Flora of Malawi: cultivated Alternanthera
Flora of Mozambique: Alternanthera
Flora of Zambia: Alternanthera
Flora of Zambia: cultivated Alternanthera
Flora of Zimbabwe: Alternanthera
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Alternanthera

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Alternanthera
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Alternanthera
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Alternanthera
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Alternanthera
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Alternanthera
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Alternanthera
JSTOR Plant Science: Alternanthera
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Alternanthera
Plants of the World Online: Alternanthera
Tropicos: Alternanthera
Wikipedia: Alternanthera