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

2.5 cm wide, alternate, elliptic or rhombic-ovate to subspatulate or lanceolate, acute to
obtusish, base cuneate to very narrowly obtuse at petiole, serrate near apex, somewhat
glaucous-green above, pale beneath, glabrous above, densely stellate-pubescent beneath;
petioles, 2 to 6 mm long (rarely longer); stipules 3 to 10 mm long, narrow; flowers,
solitary or occasionally paired in axils; pedicels 1 to 5 cm long, slender; calyx, about 15
mm wide, 5-lobed, lobes deltoid-apiculate; corolla, about 6 to 18 mm wide, 5-petaled,
petals free, obovate, unequally bilobed, rotate, yellow to pale orange; stamens numerous,
fused into a column (monadelphous); fruit, about 8 mm in diameter, an 8- to 10 (rarely
12)-carpellate schizocarp, carpels about 3 to 4.5 mm long, deltoid, apiculate, stellate
pubescent dorsally, with 2 sharp awns, about 1 mm long at apex; seeds, 1 per mericarp,
about 2 mm long, rounded wedge-shaped or almost pyramidal-triangular, dark brown or
black. Weed of roadsides, waste places and semi-shaded areas. Tea made from leaves
during World War 11; leaves boiled in water used to treat blisters. 3(58621), 4(138N), 5,
6, 7, 8(9575).
Sida spinosa L. var. angustifolia (Lam .). Griseb. "prickly sida"
Recent introduction. Pantropical. Occasional. Soft pubescent herb, up to 1 m
high, the young stems covered with minute soft hairs; leaves, 2.5 to 5 cm long and 0.4 to
2 cm wide, alternate, ovate-lanceolate, or oblong, acute, base rounded, obtuse or
subcordulate, serrate; petiole, up to 2 cm or longer, slender; stipules, small, pointed, one
at base and 2 lateral, usually curved downward; flowers solitary or in axillary or terminal
paniculate clusters of 2 or 3; corolla, about 1 cm across, 5-petaled, light yellow; fruit, an
ovoid 5-carpellate schizocarp, carpels 2-beaked; seeds, triangular, smooth, dark brown.
Weed in waste places. 4, 6.
Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. ex Correa " milo" (Hawaii, Polynesia)
itira, itirya (N); te bingibing (?)(K); milo (T)
syns. Hibiscus populneus L. (at least in part); H. baccijkrus Forst-f.; Malvavis-
cus populneus (L.) Gaertn.
Indigenous. Paleotropics. Occasional. Medium tree, 3 to 15 m (rarely 20 m)high,
with a fairly stout trunk, rough corrugated bark, dense round crown, and glabrous
branches; branch tips silvery brown lepidote or scurfy, glabrescent; leaves, 5 to 15 cm
long and almost as broad, alternate, rather crowded, ovate, base cordate with an open
sinus, acuminate, entire or rarely somewhat lobed, green above, only slightly paler
beneath, glabrous, slightly fleshy-coriaceous, glossy, usually at right angles to petiole,
the tip pointing down, midrib yellowish, palmately 7- to 7-nerved; petioles, 3 to 12 cm
long; inflorescences, solitary, axillary; pedicels, about half as long as the petioles, stout;
- epiczlyx,5t~S;bracteate, brw-1'1 mm long, oblong to lanceolate, caducous;
calyx, about 18 mm in diameter, rim- or disc-like, unlobed or scarcely toothed, persis-
tent; corolla, 8 to 10 cm across, 5-petaled, campanulate, rather persistent, pale yellow
with a maroon or reddish center of "eye", fading to purple or pinkish-purple; staminal