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Largeleaf pennywort facts for kids

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Largeleaf pennywort
Hydrocotyle bonariensis.jpg
Largeleaf pennywort
Scientific classification
Genus:
Hydrocotyle
Species:
bonariensis
Hydrocotyle bonariensis distMap.png
Occurrence data from GBIF
Synonyms

Hydrocotyle bonariensis Comm. ex Lam.
Hydrocotyle multiflora Ruiz & Pav.
Hydrocotyle petiolaris DC.
Hydrocotyle yucatanensis Millsp.
Hydrocotyle caffra Meisn.

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.

Hydrocotyle bonariensis 2
Hydrocotyle bonariensis
Hydrocotyle bonariensis 4zz

Description

Flowers
This plant has numerous white to creamy-yellow flowers, and the flower stalks can be 30 centimetres (12 in) 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
Co-dominate species

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.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Hydrocotyle bonariensis para niños

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