Cuphea strigulosa subsp. opaca Koehne

Herbs perennial, sometimes sub­shrubs, 2.5–10 dm, with fibrous roots. Stems erect to semi-decumbent, sparsely branched, puberulent and often sparsely red-purple glandular-setose. Leaves opposite, sessile to subsessile; petiole 0–2 mm; blade elliptic, 15–45 × 7–25 mm, base attenuate. Racemes leafy. Pedicels 1–2 mm. Flowers alternate, solitary, interpetiolar; floral tube green abaxially, purple or green adaxially, 6.5–7.5 × 1 mm, puberulent and sparsely glandular-setose; base a descending spur, 0.5 mm; inner surface glabrous proximally, glabrous or finely puberulent distal to stamens; epicalyx segments thick, often terminated by a bristle; sepals equal; petals 6, pale rose or pink, oblong, subequal, 2.5–5 × 1.5–2 mm; stamens 11, scarcely reaching sinus of sepals. Seeds 6–13, sub­orbiculate to oblong in outline, 1.5–1.8 × 1.3–1.5 mm, margin narrow, flattened, thin. 2n = 16 (Brazil).

Flowering summer. Moist pastures, disturbed open, wet areas, roadsides, river margins; 0–50 m; introduced, Fla.; South America; introduced also in West Indies.

Cuphea strigulosa is widespread in Andean South America and in Brazil. It was first noted in Puerto Rico in 1964 and first collected in the Florida Everglades in 1995.