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  1. Family: Euphorbiaceae Juss.

    1. Tragia Plum. ex L.

        2. This genus is accepted, and its native range is America, Tropical & S. Africa to Indian Subcontinent, Australia.

    [FZ]

    Euphorbiaceae, A. Radcliffe-Smith. Flora Zambesiaca 9:4. 1996

    Habit
    Monoecious or dioecious erect, suberect or scandent perennial herbs or shrubs; indumentum simple, usually intermixed with stinging bristles.
    Leaves
    Leaves alternate, petiolate or sessile, stipulate, usually simple, rarely lobed, dentate, serrate or entire, often cordate, palminerved.
    Bracts
    Bracts conspicuous, persistent, the male bracts 1–3-flowered, the female bracts 1-flowered.
    Inflorescences
    Pedicels jointed, 2-bracteolate. Inflorescences terminal, leaf-opposed or lateral, rarely axillary, racemose, male or female or usually mostly male with 1(3) female flowers at the base, pedunculate.
    Flowers
    Male flowers: calyx closed in bud, later splitting into 3(6) valvate lobes; petals absent; disk absent or obscure; stamens (1)3(5), (rarely more outside tropical Africa), alternating with the calyx lobes, filaments short, usually ± free, anthers 2-celled, dorsifixed or basifixed, usually introrse, the cells parallel, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode minute, often 3-radiate. Female flowers: calyx lobes 3–6, 1- or 2-seriate, imbricate, pinnatifid or ± palmatifid, usually with a narrow central rhachis and one terminal and several dark green lateral lobules which are often longer than the width of the calyx-lobe rhachis (entire in the Neotropics), accrescent (not accrescent outside tropical Africa), the calyx-lobe rhachis later becoming hardened and sometimes almost woody; petals absent; disk absent; ovary 3-celled, with 1 ovule per cell; styles 3, connate below, free above, entire.
    Fruits
    Fruit 3-lobed, dehiscing into 3 bivalved cocci; endocarp crustaceous; columella 3-fid.
    Seeds
    Seeds globose, marbled, ecarunculate; testa crustaceous; albumen fleshy, cotyledons broad and flat.
    [FTEA]

    Euphorbiaceae, A. R.-Smith. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1987

    Habit
    Erect, suberect, scrambling or twining monoecious or rarely dioecious perennial or rarely annual herbs or shrubs with a simple indumentum, urticating and/or non-urticating
    Leaves
    Leaves alternate, petiolate to subsessile or sessile, stipulate, simple to palmatisect, sharply serrate or dentate to entire, often cordate, palminerved
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescences terminal, leaf-opposed or lateral, rarely axillary, racemose, ♂ or ♀ or usually mostly ♂ with 1–2(–3) ♀ flowers at the base, pedunculate; bracts conspicuous, persistent, the ♂ bracts 1–3-flowered, the ♀ ones 1-flowered; pedicels articulate, bibracteolate
    Male
    Male flowers: calyx closed in bud, later splitting into 3(–5) valvate lobes; petals 0; disc 0 or obscure; stamens (1–)3(–5), rarely more (not E. Africa), when 3 alternating with the calyx-lobes, filaments very short, usually ± free, anthers 2-thecous, dorsifixed or almost basifixed, introrse or rarely extrorse, the thecae parallel, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode minute, often triradiate, or obsolete
    Flowers
    Female flowers: calyx-lobes 3 or 6, uniseriate or biseriate, imbricate, entire (not E. Africa) or pinnatifid to subpalmatifid, accrescent (E. Africa), the median portion becoming indurated; petals 0; disc 0; ovary 3-locular, with one ovule per locule; styles 3, connate below into a slender column, free above, entire Male flowers: calyx closed in bud, later splitting into 3(–5) valvate lobes; petals 0; disc 0 or obscure; stamens (1–)3(–5), rarely more (not E. Africa), when 3 alternating with the calyx-lobes, filaments very short, usually ± free, anthers 2-thecous, dorsifixed or almost basifixed, introrse or rarely extrorse, the thecae parallel, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode minute, often triradiate, or obsolete
    Female
    Female flowers: calyx-lobes 3 or 6, uniseriate or biseriate, imbricate, entire (not E. Africa) or pinnatifid to subpalmatifid, accrescent (E. Africa), the median portion becoming indurated; petals 0; disc 0; ovary 3-locular, with one ovule per locule; styles 3, connate below into a slender column, free above, entire
    Fruits
    Fruit 3-lobed, dehiscing into 3 bivalved cocci (rarely also monospermous fruits developed); cocci subglobose, rarely slightly angled dorsally; endocarp crustaceous; columella trifid
    Seeds
    Seeds globose, marmorate, ecarunculate; testa crustaceous; albumen fleshy; cotyledons broad, flat.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Alabama, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Assam, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, California, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Repu, Chad, Colombia, Colorado, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Florida, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Haiti, Honduras, Illinois, India, Indiana, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Leeward Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Mozambique, Namibia, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Oklahoma, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Somalia, South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, Utah, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Virginia, West Himalaya, Windward Is., Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

    Tragia Plum. ex L. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Harley, R.M. [51436], Brazil K001205088
    Hind, D.J.N. [50466/A], Brazil K001205089
    Giulietti, A.M. [1670], Brazil K001205093
    Giulietti, A.M. [1578], Brazil K001205094
    Hage, J.L. [1710], Brazil K001205086
    Carvalho, A.M. [1528], Brazil K001205087
    Arbo, M.M. [5806], Brazil K001205090
    Ule, E. [5013], Brazil K001205092
    Guedes, M.L.S. [7317], Brazil K001205091
    Tweedie [1994], Brazil K001205095

    First published in Sp. Pl.: 980 (1753)

    Accepted by

    • Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

    Literature

    Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • Pax & K. Hoffm. in Engl. Pflanzenr. Euph. 9: 32 (1919).
    • —F.T.A. 6, 1: 964
    Flora Zambesiaca
    • Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 421 (1754).
    • Sp. Pl.: 980 (1753)
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • Pax in E.P. IV. 147 (9): 32 (1919)
    • Prain in F.T.A. 6(1): 964 (1913)
    • G.P. 3(1): 329 (1880)
    • Muell. Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 927 (1866)
    • L., Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 421 (1754)
    • Sp. Pl.: 980 (1753)

    Sources

    Flora Zambesiaca
    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Plants and People Africa
    Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/