Achyranthes aspera L.
Herb to c. 1 m high. Stems lax, woody at base and ribbed, densely hairy with hairs somewhat appressed. Petioles 5-20 mm long, silky, often pink. Lamina 3-9 × 2-6 cm, broadly ovate, slightly rhomboid, clothed in appressed hairs above and below, silky canescent on young parts, crenulate or crenate, attenuate at base, acute or shortly acuminate. Infl. to 15 cm long; peduncle white-villous. Fls becoming retrorse, often tinged red. Bract c. 3 mm long, ovate, long-acuminate; bracteoles slightly > bract, with broadly scarious base and a long, subulate spine above. Tepals 3-5 mm long, shining, acute, becoming pungent in fr. Fr. 2-2.5 mm long.
N.: a garden weed at Silverdale, N. of Auckland, 1960.
Pantropic, including the tropical Pacific N. of N.Z. 1983
The sharp frs adhere to feathers, fur and clothing and disperse the seed and thus A. aspera is a potentially bad weed. The Silverdale specimens resemble var. velutina (Hook. et Arn.) Towns. in their grey hairy appearance and the often acute as opposed to acuminate lf apices. This var. is found on many tropical Indian and Pacific Ocean islands but it is not always easy to separate from var. aspera.
