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Boerhavia diffusa

L. (1753)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-CoreEudicot Order: Caryophyllales Family: Nyctaginaceae Genus: Boerhavia

anena (Ni‘ihau via St. John), nena, scarlet boerhavia, scarlet spiderling

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Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Herbs annual or perennial.

Stems: Stems sprawling to ascending, most parts glandular-pubescent, sometimes conspicuously so, occasionally apparently eglandular.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades very variable, lanceolate to suborbicular, to 1.8-6 × 1-5.5 cm. Apex rounded to acute. Base cuneate to shallowly cordate. Margins obscurely sinuate. Petioles well defined, to 3 cm. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescences mostly terminal and subterminal, upper leaves reduced to form ascending panicle, 2-8-flowered clusters. Pedicel to 1 mm. Flowers bisexual, small. Perianth constricted beyond the ovary, limb campanulate, apex 5-lobed, limb white, pink, or mauve, rarely purplish red, to 2(-2.5) mm. Stamens (1-)3(-4), 1.5-4.5 mm.

Fruit: Anthocarps fusiform; 3-3.5(-4) mm; obviously 5-ribbed; usually glandular hairy. Seeds with a curved embryo; cotyledons thin; broad; enclosing the thin endosperm.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range:

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

Natural History

Statewide Status

Naturalized

Island Status

Mokupāpapa (Kure atoll) Naturalized
Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) Naturalized
Kaua'i Naturalized
O'ahu Naturalized
Kapou(Lisianski Island) Naturalized
Molokai Naturalized
Lana'i Naturalized
Kaho'olawe Naturalized
Maui Naturalized
Hawai'i Naturalized

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Bibliography

Name Published In: Sp. Pl.: 3 (1753)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:978 (K, O, M, Ka, H [as B. coccinea]); Oppenheimer & Bartlett 2002:10 (L); Oppenheimer 2003:16 (Mo); Starr et al. 2003:29 (Ku); Starr & Starr 2018:4 (Mi); Spellenberg 2004:19/Faccenda, Arthur, et al. 2025:196 (Li, B. coccinea misapplied = B. diffusa); Naomi Worcester pers. comm/Starr 010523-1 BISH (Ku†, 2001)

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
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