Seaside Joyweed

Description

Alternanthera ficoidea is a species of flowering plant. It was first described by Carl von Linné, and given the exact name of Robert Brown. Alternanthera ficoidea belongs to the genus Alternanthera, and family Amaranthaceae. Alternanthera ficoidea, also known as Joseph's coat, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is native to the Caribbean and South America and occurs elsewhere in the tropics as an introduced species. It is considered invasive in Palau, the Philippines and Australia (Queensland). Propagation occurs via seeds. Alternanthera ficoidea is a species of Magnoliopsida first described by Carl von Linné, and given its simplified Asian name by Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot de Beauvois. Alternanthera ficoidea belongs to the genus Alternanthera, and the family Amaranthaceae. Alternanthera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. It is a widespread genus with most species occurring in the tropical Americas, and others in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Plants of the genus may be known generally as joyweeds, or Joseph's coat. Several species are notorious noxious weeds. These are annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs. While some of the better-known species are aquatic plants, most are terrestrial. They take many forms, from prostrate to erect to floating. The leaves are oppositely arranged. The inflorescence is a spike or a rounded head occurring in the leaf axils or the ends of branches. The flowers have 5 tepals. There are 3 to 5 stamens which are fused into a rim at the bases, and 5 pseudostaminodes, appendages between the stamens that are not true staminodes. The fruit is a utricle containing one seed. The genus Alternanthera contains both terrestrial and aquatic species. The photosynthetic pathway varies in this genus: Some species undergo C3 carbon fixation, one clade of 17 species has acquired the C4 pathway, and yet other species have an intermediate C3-C4 pathway. Many species have been reported as noxious weeds, including A. angustifolia, A. caracasana, A. denticulata, A. nana, A. nodiflora, A. paronychioides, A. philoxeroides, A. sessilis, A. tenella, and A. triandra. The most important species is alligator weed (A. philoxeroides), a South American aquatic plant that has spread to other continents.