''Acalypha gracilens'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Euphorbiaceae. Common names include slender threeseed mercury; three-seeded mercury; shortstalk copperleaf; slender copperleaf. It is native to the south-eastern United States.

Description

Annual. Plant is erect with pubescent stems coming from the taproots. The leaves are alternate with two lateral veins beginning from the base, prominent and parallel to the midrib,

crenate A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

to crenate-serrate, or petiolate. The spikes are axillary or terminal, or both. The bracts are leaf-like. There are no petals. The flowers are

pistillate Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

with 3–5 sepals and a 3-locular ovary. The staminate flowers with 4 sepals and 8–16 stamens. The capsules are broader than they are long.Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 664-665. The plant grows up to 0.8m high. The stems are freely branched and densely pubescent with short incurved (or appressed) ascending

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pla ...

s. The leaves are elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate which are 2–6 cm long and 0.5–2 cm wide, obtuse, crenate. The base of the leaves are cuneate to rounded, with pubescence of both surfaces (more or less glabrate). The petioles of principle leaves are 0.4–1.5 cm long. The axillary spike has 1–5 pistillate flowers near the base that are interrupted and continued with a spike of staminate flowers. The pistillate bracts are often stipitate-glandular, teeth triangular, 5–13. The seeds are reddish to black in color and are ovoid, 1.2–1.8mm long. Flowers in June and into late frost.

Distribution

''A. gracilens'' is found throughout the south-eastern U.S. coastal plain and piedmont, eastern midwest, and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Ecology

Habitat

In the south-eastern U.S. coastal plain it is a common plant found on frequently burned sandhills (

Entisol Entisols are soils defined in USDA soil taxonomy that do not show any profile development other than an A horizon. An entisol has no diagnostic horizons, and most are basically unaltered from their parent material, which can be unconsolidated sedi ...

s), and in pine flatwoods (

Spodosols In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of huma ...

) and upland pine communities (

Ultisol Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. The word "Ultisol" is derived from "ultimate", because Ultisols were seen as the ultimate product of continu ...

s), as well as floodplain forest ( Alphasols).Hall, David W. Illustrated Plants of Florida and the Coastal Plain: based on the collections of Leland and Lucy Baltzell. 1993. A Maupin House Book. Gainesville. 159. It thrives in frequently burned pine communities. It occurs in both native communities and areas with very disturbed soil. It occurs in a fairly wide range of well-drained soils, from deep sand to

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

s. Its light tolerance is fairly broad, from full light to shaded areas on the margins of clearings.Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Cecil R. Slaughter, R.A. Norris, R.F. Doren, and Robert K. Godfrey. States and Counties: Florida: Calhoun, Gadsden, Leon, Liberty, Wakulla, and St. Johns. Georgia: Thomas. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy. In addition to the coastal plain it is common throughout the Piedmont region and infrequent in the mountains. Associated species include ''Liatris gracilis, L. tenuifolia, Polygonella gracilis, Didodia teres, Chrysopis lanuginosa, Rubus cuneifolis, Hypericum gentianoides, Trichostema dichotomum, Eupatorium compositifolium'', and others.

Phenology

Flowers spring to fall through most of its range. Flowers all year in southern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Seed dispersal

This species is believed to disperse by explosion mechanisms or by ants.Coastal Plain Plants website accessed May 2, 2016
/ref>

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9573996 gracilens