atoll research bulletin no. 392 the flora of - Smithsonian Institution ...

Phyllanthus amarus Sch. & Th.
te kaimatu (K)
syn. P. niruri L. sensu auct. plur. non L.
"sleeping plant"
Recent introduction. Trop. America (despite African type locality). Common.
Erect to semi-prostrate, diffusely branched annual herb, somewhat woody at the base, 10
to 50 cm high; leaves, 4 to 10 mm long and 2 to 4 mm wide, numerous, crowded,
simple but appearing pinnately compound, alternate, in two rows on opposite sides of the
branchlets, oblong-elliptic or squarish, tip and base rounded, entire, green, lighter
beneath, glabrous, subsessile; stipules, about 1.5 mm long, narrow-triangular; flowers,
monoecious, minute, petal-less, greenish, borne in axillary cymules, on the branchlets,
under the leaves, and containing 1 male and 1 female flower per node; calyx lobes 5,
acute; pedicels 2 mm long; male flowers, with 3 stamens; female flowers, with a 3-celled
ovary and 3 bifid styles; fruit, about 1.5 mm wide, solitary, capsular, 3-celled, depressed
globose, glabrous, greenish to yellow-brown, borne on a stalk about 1.5 mm long,
splitting at maturity into three 2-seeded segments; seeds, about 1.5 mm long, wedge-
shaped, rounded dorsally, light brown, longitudinally 5- to 7-ribbed on back. Weed of
gardens and waste places. 3(58685, 58733), 4(155N), 5(47), 6, 7, 8(9571).
Phyllanthus societatis Muell. Arg.
eoemangemang, ewemangemang, eoemangmang (N)
Indigenous. Polynesia and Micronesia. Common. Erect, or half-erect, branching
shrub, up to 50 cm or taller; leaves, 0.6 to 2.5 cm long, alternate, simple but appearing
pinnately compound, alternate, in two rows on opposite sides of the branchlets, sessile,
mucronate, cuneate; flowers, inonoecious, minute, petal-less, greenish, borne in axillary
cymules; male flowers, numerous, slender stalked, sepals 6, oblong-ovate, having 6
alternate glands at base, stamens 3, filaments united; female flowers, mostly solitary,
sepals 6, waxy white, ovary 3-lobed subtended by an entire glandular disc; fruit, 6 to 7
mm in diameter, depressed, splitting at maturity into three 2-seeded sections. Found as
scattered individuals and small communities in unmined areas on plateau, on slopes
around plateau, at base of escarpment and on coastal strip, around cemeteries, and
occasionally in revegetated mined areas and as a pioneer plant on limestone pinnacles on
the coastal strip. Straight main stems used as toy spears by children. 3(58595, 58748,
58801), 5(48, 51), 6, 7(22317), 8(9590).
Ricinus comrnunis L. "castor bean", castor oil plant"
-- Recent introduction. Africa. Rare. Coarse, erec6- branching, glabrous, semi-
woody shrub, up to 3 m or higher, with spreading, hollow greenish or reddish stems and
branches with well-marked nodes and leaf scars, watery sap, and a well-developed
taproot; leaves, 10 cin to 75 cm in diameter, alternate, spirally arranged, round-ovate in
outline, peltate, mostly deeply palmately 5- to 1 1-lobed, lobes sharply acuminate or