PYLUR
Growth form
broadleaf
Biological cycle
annual
Habitat
terrestrial
synonym | Diasperus urinaria (L.) Kuntze |
synonym | Phyllanthus alatus Blume |
synonym | Phyllanthus cantoniensis Hornem. |
synonym | Phyllanthus croizatii Steyerm. |
synonym | Phyllanthus echinatus Buch.-Ham. ex Wall. [Invalid] |
synonym | Phyllanthus lauterbachianus Pax |
synonym | Phyllanthus leprocarpus Wight |
synonym | Phyllanthus mauritianus Henry H.Johnst. |
synonym | Phyllanthus muricatus Wall. [Invalid] |
synonym | Phyllanthus nozeranii Rossignol & Haicour |
synonym | Phyllanthus rubens Bojer ex Baker |
synonym | Phyllanthus urinaria subsp. urinaria |
synonym | Phyllanthus urinaria var. laevis Haines |
synonym | Phyllanthus urinaria var. oblongifolius Müll.Arg. |
synonym | Phyllanthus verrucosus Elmer [Illegitimate] |
Anglais / English |
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Créole Maurice |
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Créole Réunion |
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Créole Seychelles |
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Malgache |
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Other |
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Global description
Phyllanthus urinaria is a more or less erect plant, usually bare toward the base, with single stem or slightly branched, reddish, narrowly winged between the stipules and the lower node and 1 to 2 lines of hairs. It is 10 to 45 cm high, but usually smaller, or the plant is more or less prostrate and reaches only up to about 10 cm. The leaves are oblong, acute to rounded at the apex, and mucronate , dark green on upper surface, paler on lower surface, carried by short branches, making them to look like compound leaves. Female flowers are especially present at the base of the branches. The fruits are globular capsules with bumpy surface.
Cotyledons
The cotyledons are sub-sessile, with oblong blade having rounded apex and base. They measure 6 mm long and 3 mm wide.
First leaves
First leaves simple, alternate, obovate or oblong, on an erect or reddish prostrate stem, narrowly winged. The lamina is 5 to 7 mm long and 3 to 4 mm wide. The base is wedged and the apex rounded mucronate or apiculate. The margin is entire, often tinged with red and is very finely scabrous and faces are glabrous.
General habit
Annual plant, erect, 10 to 45 cm high, single stem or slightly branched, narrowly winged at the internodes.
Underground system
The plant has a taproot system.
Stem
The stem is roughly tetragonal, full, narrowly winged at the base of the stipules between the lower internodes, generally having 1 to 2 lines of bristle. The stem is usually reddish in color. The stem exudes a transparent latex when it is cut.
Leaf
Leaves are simple, alternate, very close, sub-sessile. Those on the main axis have at the base, oval stipules, long acuminate, scarious, significantly auriculate at the base, or even peltate, sometimes the auricle attenuated into basal tip. The leaves of lateral branches have scarious stipules significantly reduced and non auriculate. The lateral branches with defined growth, look like compound leaves with alternate leaflets. The lamina is oblong, apiculate, acute to obtuse and mucronate at the apex, more or less rounded and slightly asymmetrical at the base, 7 to 12 mm long and 2.5 to 6 mm wide. The margin is entire, tinged with purple and scaberulous. The faces are dark green on the upper surface above, paler on the lower surface and smooth, the pinnate venation is clearly visible.
Flower
Flowers solitary or in small groups at the leaf axils of lateral branches. The flowers of the basal part of the branches are females and solitary; the distal male flowers are in small groups. Female flowers with short pedicel (0,5 mm) and 1-2 bracts at the base, usually facing down. The sepals are narrowly ovate, 1 mm long with membranous margin, white to yellowich coloured. The disc is a thin ring, flattened, the ovary is spherical distinctly verrucous. Male flowers with 6 white sepals elliptic to obovate and disk with 6 discoid green lobes and 3 stamens. After opening of capsules and falling of shells, all pedicels, bearing the sepals and persistent basal disk, are stiff and regularly facing down.
Fruit
The fruit is a capsule with 3 loculus, 2.5 mm in diameter, never smooth, covered with warts more or less clear, these warts are reduced to mere roughness by the growth of the fruit.
Seed
Seed trigonal, about 1.5 mm long, crossed on the back with transverse ridges, and having deep excavations on the sides.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Mayotte: Phyllanthus urinaria flowers and fruits all year round.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Characters to distinguish some Phyllanthus spp.
Habit | Leaves along main axis |
Stem | Flowers on branches |
Female flower pedicel |
Sepals | Disc | Species |
subwoody erect |
yes | cylindrical green blue |
base 1 ♀ milieu 1 ♀ + 1-2 ♂ apex 1-2 ♂ |
short 1,5-2 mm |
6 | 5 free lobes | P. maderaspatensis |
herbaceouserect | no | cylindrical dark green |
2 ♀ + 2 ♂ |
long and pendent |
5 | orbicular disc | P. tenellus |
herbaceous erect |
no | cylindrical green to purpel |
base 2-3 ♂ apex 1 ♀ |
short 1-2 mm |
5 | stellate disc | P. niruroides |
herbaceous erect |
no | cylindrical light green |
base 1-3 ♂ apex 1 ♂ + 1 ♀ |
short 2 mm |
5 | 5lobed disc | P. amarus |
herbaceous erect |
no |
cylindrical green |
base 3-7 ♂ apex 1 ♀ |
medium |
5 | pentagonal disc |
P. niruri |
herbaceous prostrate to erect |
no | tetragonal winged redish | base 1 ♀ apex 2-4 ♂ |
short 0,5-1 mm |
6 | ondulate disc | P. urinaria |
subwoody erect to prostrate |
no | cylindrical green |
base 2-4 ♂ apex 1 ♀ |
medium 5 mm |
6 | orbicular disc | P. virgatus |
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Identification key of Phyllanthus
Flowers | Color of the stem | Stem | Leaf | Habit | Sepals | Species |
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long pedicellate | dark green | winged | 0,7-1,9 cm | erect | 5 | Phyllanthus tenellus |
short pedicellate | blue green | not winged | 4 cm | 6 | Phyllanthus maderaspatensis | |
light green | 0,8-1,2 cm | 5 | Phyllanthus amarus | |||
redish | 0,5-1,1 cm | 5 | Phyllanthus niruroides | |||
0,7- 1,2 cm | prostrate | 6 | Phyllanthus urinaria |
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Phyllanthus urinaria is a common weed of waste places, clearings, gardens, along paths, but is also found in evergreen forest and bamboo forest. It grows on well drained, fertile, sandy soils, sometimes on limestone, often in humid places or even in marshy ground, up to 1500 m altitude.
Comoros: Absent.
Madagascar: Phyllanthus urinaria is a slightly common weed more or less localized in the alluvial plains of the north west and west of the island.
Mauritius: Weed occurring on roadsides, edge of streams and cultivated fields. It is very common on the island.
Mayotte: Phyllanthus urinaria is an exotic species commonly naturalized in degraded environments of hygrophilic and mesophilic regions. It is found in gardens, crops, villages and roadsides.
Reunion: Very common species along roadside and in the plots cultivated at low altitude over the entire circumference of the island.
Seychelles: Common species.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Attributions | dummy |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY_SA |
References |
Local harmfulness
Benin: Phyllanthus urinaria is a rare and scarce species.
Comoros: Absent.
Madagascar: A weed relatively troublesome in current farming systems.
Mauritius: abundant weed in sugar cane fields where it competes poorly with cultures. It may have an average to high harmfulness in certain vegetable cultivation.
Mayotte: Phyllanthus urinaria is a very uncommon weed, present in 2% of cultivated plots. It grows especially in ylang plantations and food crops. But it can also be found in forage and vegetable crops.
Reunion: A weed infrequent in sugar cane and occasionally present in pineapple cultivation, the degree of overlap may exceptionally reach 30 to 50%.
Uganda: Rare and scarce.
Seychelles: A common weed but slightly competitive.
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Attributions | Wiktrop |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Attributions | |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Phyllanthus%2520urinaria
Attributions | |
Contributors | |
Status | UNDER_CREATION |
Licenses | CC_BY |
References |
Root | Root |
Kingdom | Plantae |
Phylum | Tracheophyta |
Class | Magnoliopsida |
Order | Malpighiales |
Family | Phyllanthaceae |
Genus | Phyllanthus |
Species | Phyllanthus urinaria L. |