Crabweed

Herbs , annual, caulescent, taprooted; sap not milky. Leaves alternate; stipules caducous, free. Leaf blade broadly ovate, margins toothed; venation nearly palmate. Inflorescences axillary, capitate cymes, short-pedunculate, bracteate. Flowers: staminate and pistillate on same plants. Staminate flowers: calyx 4-lobed; stamens 4, inflexed. Pistillate flowers: calyx green, 4-lobed, pubescent; ovary superior, oblique, 1-locular; style unbranched, nearly lateral. Syncarps globose; each achene surrounded by its enlarged, persistent calyx.

Species 2 (1 in the flora): North America, tropical e Asia, Africa (Madagascar), Australia.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Thieret, J. W. 1964. Fatoua villosa (Moraceae) in Louisiana: New to North America. Sida 1: 248. Vincent, M. A. 1993. Fatoua villosa (Moraceae), mulberry weed, in Ohio. Ohio J. Sci. 93: 147-149.

Lower Taxon

• Fatoua villosa (Thunberg) Nakai