Alternanthera pungens

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:AMARANTHACEAE
Species:Alternanthera pungens Kunth
Common Name:Khakiweed
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:ALPU3
Plant Notes:Khakiweed is an introduced perennial herb in the Amaranth family (Amaranthaceae). It is native to Central and South America. In Alabama it is known from an 1891 collection by Charles Mohr from Mobile County, and a recent rediscovery of the plant in Butler County. It occurs in lawns, on roadsides, along paths, and in other disturbed sites. Khakiweed is a prostrate perennial from a tap root, the stems occasionally rooting at the nodes. The stems are pubescent with villous (shaggy) hairs. Leaves are opposite, sessile or with short petioles, oval to ovate in outline, about as broad as long, and with entire margins. The leaves are pubescent or nearly glabrous, dark green above and light green below. The leaves may become reddish when the plant is under stress from drought or cold temperatures. Flowers are produced in sessile heads in the axils of the leaves. The tepals of the flowers are tan colored, spine tipped, and sparsely villous or glabrous. The fruit is an utricle. Khakiweed is suspected to have poisoned pigs and cattle that consumed it. Khakiweed is a serious weed in parts of Africa and Australia. It has also recently become a serious pest of Bermudagrass lawns in Arizona.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native, GNR (Global Rank)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyAMARANTHACEAE - Amaranth family
Genus Alternanthera
Species Alternanthera pungens Kunth - Khakiweed

Citation

Citation Alternanthera pungens Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. (quarto ed.) 2(7): 206. 1817.
Basionym: **
Type: VENEZUELA: Orinoco, s.d., Humboldt & Bonpland s.n. (holotype: P).

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Achyranthes radicans Anales Ci. Nat. Madrid 3: 27. 1801, nom. illegit.Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Achyranthes leiantha J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 5: 73. 1915.Alternanthera achyrantha (Linnaeus) R. Brown ex Sweet, var. leiantha Seubert 1875; Alternanthera pungens Kunth 1818. 
Achyranthes mucronata Encycl. 2: 547. 1785, nom. illegit.Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Achyranthes repens Sp. Pl. 205. 1753. ARGENTINA: Tucuman ("Turcomania"), without data (holotype: LINN).
Alternanthera achyrantha var. leiantha Martius, Fl. Bras. 5(1): 183. 1875. Alternanthera pungens Kunth 1818. 
Alternanthera achyrantha Hort. Suburb. Lond. 48. 1818.Illecebrum achyrantha Linnaeus 1762, nom. illegit.; Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Alternanthera echinata Rees, Cycl. 41: Alternanthera #10. 1819. BRAZIL: Without data, Commerson s.n. (holotype: LINN).
Alternanthera leiantha Contr. Mus. Hist. Nat. "La Salle" Havana 9: 1. 1950, nom. illegit.Alternanthera achyrantha (Linnaeus) R. Brown ex Sweet, var. leiantha Seubert 1875; Alternanthera pungens Kunth 1818. 
Alternanthera lorentzii Publ. Field Columbian Mus., Bot. Ser. 1(5): 421. 1899. URUGUAY: Concepción del Uruguay, s.d., Lorentz 51878 (holotype: F; isotypes: G, GH, K, M, P).
Alternanthera pungens forma pauciflora Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 2: 68. 1950. ARGENTINA: Catamarca, Brizuela 713 (holotype: M).
Alternanthera pungens var. leiantha Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 4: 103. 1952, nom. inadmiss.Alternanthera achyrantha (Linnaeus) R. Brown ex Sweet, var. leiantha Seubert 1875; Alternanthera pungens Kunth 1818. 
Alternanthera repens Enum. Hort. Berol. Alt. 1: 154. 1821, non J. F. Gmelin 1791.Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Alternanthera thomensis Bull. Soc. Bot. France 66: 223. 1919.  
Celosia echinata Roemer & Schultes, Syst. Veg. 5: 531. 1820. VENEZUELA: Orinoco, Humboldt & Bonpland s.n. (holotype: B).
Illecebrum achyrantha Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 299. 1762, nom. illegit.Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Illecebrum obliquum Schumacher, Beskr. Guin. Pl. 162. 1827. Africa, Without data, Thonning s.n. (holotype: P).
Illecebrum pungens Syst. Veg. 1: 820. 1824 ("1825").Alternanthera pungens Kunth 1818. 
Paronychia achyrantha Tab. Bot. 44. 1804, nom. illegit. Illecebrum achyrantha Linnaeus 1762, nom. illegit.; Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Pityranthus crassifolius Denkschr. Königl. Akad. Wiss. München 5: 179. 1817, nom. illegit.Achyranthes repens Linnaeus 1753. 
Telanthera pungens de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 371. 1849.Alternanthera pungens Kunth 1818. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Barbour, Butler, Mobile

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, TROY, UNA, UWAL, UWFP

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1891 - 1891

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
UWAL0049479 Barbour 26 Jun 2019 Diamond, Alvin R.
29001		 UWAL
Alternanthera pungens Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
UNA00033259 Mobile 16 Oct 1891 Mohr, Charles
s.n.		 UNA
Alternanthera pungens Kunth
TROY000044351 Butler 18 Sep 2016 Diamond, Alvin R.
27680		 TROY
Alternanthera pungens Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
UWFP001757 Butler 13 Oct 2012 James R. Burkhalter
23774		 UWFP
Alternanthera pungens Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
TROY000043561 Butler 13 Oct 2012 Burkhalter, James R.
23774		 TROY
Alternanthera pungens Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
ALNHS00005449 Butler 05 DEC 2017 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#3550		 ALNHS
Alternanthera pungens Kunth
ALNHS00007005 Butler 22 Oct 2020 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#5367		 ALNHS
Alternanthera pungens Kunth
ALNHS00008469 Butler 27 Oct 2023 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#6239		 ALNHS
Alternanthera pungens Kunth
UWAL0045658 Barbour 18 Nov 2018 Horne, Howard E.
4694		 UWAL
Alternanthera pungens Kunth
TROY000049007 Barbour 14 Jul 2019 Diamond, Alvin R.
29001		 TROY
Alternanthera pungens Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
UWAL0039937 Butler 18 Sep 2016 Diamond, Alvin R.
27680		 UWAL
Alternanthera pungens Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth
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