''Spermacoce alata'', the winged false buttonweed, is a species of plant in the

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...

.Aublet, Jean Baptiste Christophe Fusée. 1775. Histoire des Plantes de la Guiane Françoise 1: 60–61, t. 22, f. 7.
/ref> It is widespread across the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere and naturalized in many other parts of the world.

Description

''Spermacoce alata'' is a perennial herb, sometimes erect but other times decumbent. Stems are square in cross-section, with wings along the corners running lengthwise along the stem. Leaves are elliptical to oblong, up to 8 cm long. Flowers are white to very pale purple, formed in axillary clumps.

Distribution

''Spermacoce alata'' is considered native to southern

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, a few islands in the

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(

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and the

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), and parts of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

(

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

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and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

). It is reportedly naturalized in tropical

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(from

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(

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, the

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(Burma),

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, the (

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and

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.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Spermacoce alata ''
/ref>Flora of China, v 19 p 326, 阔叶丰花草 kuo ye feng hua cao, ''Spermacoce alata''
/ref>

References

External links

Discover Life
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15449863 alata Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of Trinidad and Tobago Flora of the Leeward Islands Flora of South America Plants described in 1775 Flora without expected TNC conservation status