Mercurialis annua
Encyclopedia
Mercurialis annua is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family
known by the common name annual mercury. It is native to Europe but it is known on many other continents as an introduced species
. It grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. This is an annual herb growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with oppositely arranged oval leaves each a few centimeters long. The plant is mostly dioecious
with male and female plants producing different types of inflorescence
, Mercurialis annua can also be found to be monooecious
or hermaphrodite
, their complicated sexuality makes them the ideal model plant for studying sexual systems in plants.
The male flowers are borne in spikelike clusters sprouting from leaf axils, and female flowers grow in clusters of 2 or 3. Neither type of flower has petals. The fruit is a bristly capsule 2 or 3 millimeters wide containing shiny, pitted seeds.
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....
known by the common name annual mercury. It is native to Europe but it is known on many other continents as an introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
. It grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. This is an annual herb growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with oppositely arranged oval leaves each a few centimeters long. The plant is mostly dioecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
with male and female plants producing different types of inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
, Mercurialis annua can also be found to be monooecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
or hermaphrodite
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, their complicated sexuality makes them the ideal model plant for studying sexual systems in plants.
The male flowers are borne in spikelike clusters sprouting from leaf axils, and female flowers grow in clusters of 2 or 3. Neither type of flower has petals. The fruit is a bristly capsule 2 or 3 millimeters wide containing shiny, pitted seeds.