Hydrocotyle bonariensis, the largeleaf pennywort, once a member of the family Apiaceae, now in the family Araliaceae and of the genus Hydrocotyle, is a hairless and creeping perennial.
Description
Flowers: This plant has numerous white to creamy-yellow flowers, and the flower stalks can be in height.
Fruits and reproduction: The stems creep and root at the nodes; the plant spreads by rhizomes. Dollar Weed produces a dry dehiscent fruit that, at maturity, splits into two or more parts each with a single seed.
Habitat: This plant lives in sandy areas of somewhat extreme conditions: very dry lands that are flooded sometimes.
:Community species:
*Ipomoea pes-caprae
*Senecio crassiflorus
*Juncus acutus
:Co-dominate species:
*Imperata brasiliensis
*Bacopa monnieri
Distribution
This species colonizes sandy ground and disturbed foreshore sites, estuaries, coastline, sand dunes and ponds. H. bonariensis has also displayed a tendency to prefer, and be stronger at, higher elevations.
Native
Afrotropic:
:West-Central Tropical Africa: Cameroon
:West Tropical Africa: Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal
:South Tropical Africa: Angola, Mozambique
:Southern Africa: South Africa
:Western Indian Ocean: Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion
Nearctic:
:Southeastern United States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina
:South-Central United States: Texas
Neotropic:
:Central America: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama
:Caribbean: Cuba, Puerto Rico
:Northern South America: Venezuela
:Brazil: Brazil
:Western South America: Bolivia, Colombia, Peru
:Southern South America: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Neighbors
:Colombian communities: In a remote sensing project for rapid ecological evaluation, H. bonariensis was found in Colombia inhabiting several of the evaluated areas; the last two communities are considered exceptional for the diversity.
References
External links
- Images and some information: