Home | > | List of families | > | Asteraceae | > | Tridax | > | procumbens |
Synonyms: | |
Common names: | |
Frequency: | Common |
Status: | Introduced |
Description: |
Annual or sometimes perennial, prostrate to ascending herb to c.50 cm. Leaves: petiole up to c.2 cm; lamina ovate, strigose-pubescent on both sides; margin coarsely and often deeply dentate. Peduncles long, 5-25 cm, bare. Capitula 1-1.5 cm in diameter. Rays c.4 mm, pale yellow. Receptacular scales c.6 mm, linear. Achenes c.2 mm, narrowly obovoid. Pappus c.3 mm, of c.20 alternately long and short plumose setae. |
Notes: | Often considered a lowly and humble plant and despised as a weed but there is no flower, indigenous or cultivated, that can rival its popularity in attracting butterflies. If you want butterflies in your garden, treasure it. |
Derivation of specific name: | procumbens: with stems lying along the ground; procumbent |
Habitat: | A weed of disturbed ground, often on roadsides and in waste places; also in naturally disturbed areas such as sandy stream beds. |
Flowering time: | All year |
Worldwide distribution: | Native of Mexico, but now a pantropical weed. |
Botswana distribution: | |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Literature: |
Bandeira, S., Bolnick, D. & Barbosa, F. (2007). Wild Flowers of Southern Mozambique Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique Page 211. (Includes a picture). Baumann, G. (2005). Photographic Guide to Wildflowers of Malawi Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi Pages 172 - 173. (Includes a picture). Kirby, G. (2013). Wild Flowers of Southeast Botswana Struik Nature, Cape Town South Africa Page 69. (Includes a picture). Pickering, H. & Roe, E. (2009). Wild Flowers of the Victoria Falls Area Helen Pickering, London Page 41. (Includes a picture). Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 38. Wild, H. (1967). The Compositae of the Flora Zambesiaca area. 1. Heliantheae. Kirkia 6(1) Page 11. |
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