''Iresine angustifolia'' (common name in
English: white snowplant, in
Spanish: arlomo) is a plant in the genus ''
Iresine
''Iresine'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. It contains 20 to 25 species, all of which are native to the American tropics. The generic name is derived from the Greek word εριος (''erios''), meaning "wooly", refer ...
'' of the family
Amaranthaceae.
Description
It is an
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
plant; it usually grows to 1.5 meters. in most cases it has many branches with leaves between 5 and 10 cm long, its shape varies form
linear ovate to lance-shaped.
Distribution
''Iresine angustifolia'' occurs in the southwestern part of the
United States,
Mexico,
Central America,
South America,
West Indies and some islands of the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
It can be found at middle to lower altitudes usually on
banks near the coast but also on
thickets and on dry
districts.
Uses
It is not cultivated, however it is considered useful in traditional herbal medicine in treating the bites of the insect also known as ''arlomo''.
Taxonomy
In 1788, it was first identified by
Bengt Anders Euphrasén
Bengt Anders Euphrasén (born 1756 in the parish of Habo, historical province of Västergötland, Sweden; died 25 December 1796 in Stockholm) was a Swedish botanist.
Euphrasén studied at the veterinary school in Skara and then entered Uppsala Uni ...
on
Saint Barthélemy. He published a detailed description of the plant in a book about the condition and flora of the Island. It was first published in Swedish in 1975 and then in German in 1978.
Common name
In
Mexico its common name is ''arlomo''.
References
External links
Page with documented locations: Lista de especímenes de Iresine angustifolia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15590865
angustifolia