''Richardia brasiliensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

common names tropical Mexican clover,''Richardia brasiliensis''.
USDA Plants Profile. Brazilian calla-lily, white-eye, and Brazil pusley.''Richardia brasiliensis''.
University of Florida IFAS Extension. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

it is known as ''poaia branca''.Pinto, D. S., et al. (2008)
Secondary metabolites isolated from ''Richardia brasiliensis'' Gomes (Rubiaceae).
''Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia'' 18(3) 367-72. It is native to South America. It is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

and sometimes an

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

weed in many other places, including

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

.''Richardia brasiliensis''.
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk. It is a weed of citrus groves in

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 ...

.Chandran, R. S. and M. Singh. (2003)
Survey and control of Brazil pusley (''Richardia brasiliensis'') in Florida citrus.
''Proc Fla State Hort Soc'' 116 211-14. This plant may be an annual or perennial which grows from a deep root. The branching stems grow up to 40 centimeters long and lie prostrate or grow upright. The oppositely arranged leaves are oval with pointed or rounded tips. They are up to 6.5 centimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a cluster of up to 20 flowers, or sometimes more. The petals are white or rose-pink. The fruit is a hairy nutlet. The root is often a home to

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s. In Brazil this plant is used medicinally as an

antiemetic An antiemetic is a drug that is effective against vomiting and nausea. Antiemetics are typically used to treat motion sickness and the side effects of opioid analgesics, general anaesthetics, and chemotherapy directed against cancer. They may ...

and for

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

References

Spermacoceae {{Rubioideae-stub