Petiveria alliacea

Description

Petiveria alliacea is a species of Magnoliopsida described by Carl von Linné. Petiveria alliacea belongs to the genus Petiveria, and the family Phytolaccaceae. Petiveria is a genus of flowering plants in the pigeonberry family, Petiveriaceae. The sole species it contains, Petiveria alliacea, is native to Florida and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical South America. Introduced populations occur in Benin and Nigeria. It is a deeply rooted herbaceous perennial shrub growing up to 1 m (3.3 ft) in height and has small greenish piccate flowers. The roots and leaves have a strong acrid, garlic-like odor which taints the milk and meat of animals that graze on it. It is known by a wide number of common names including: guinea henweed, guiné in Brazil, anamu in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Brazil, apacin in Guatemala, mucura in Peru, and guine in many other parts of Latin America, feuilles ave, herbe aux poules, petevere a odeur ail, and, in Trinidad, as mapurite (pronounced Ma-po-reete) and gully root, and in Jamaica as guinea hen weed and many others. Petiveria alliacea is a herbaceous shrub. Leaves are simple, alternate, pinnate in the first order and netted the second order. It has determinate inflorescences. Although the plant is capable of reproducing throughout the year, reproductive activity peaks during a portion of the year that is dependent on geography. For example, in Mexico this period is from September to October, while in Central America it is from July to January. This plant is native to the United States (southernmost Florida and Texas), the West Indies, Mexico, Central America and South America. In southern Florida it has been reported in disturbed areas, maritime, mesic, prairie and tropical hardwood hammocks and shell mound. In Mexico, P. alliacea is widely present in corn, coffee and apple plantations.