Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC.

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Yangambi, DRC © National Botanic Garden of Belgium

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Synonyms:	Mitracarpus scaber Zucc. Mitracarpus verticillatus (Schumach. & Thonn.) Vatke Mitracarpus villosus (Sw.) DC. Spermacoce hirta L. Spermacoce villosa Sw. Staurospermum verticillatum Schumach & Thonn.
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Description:	Erect or spreading annual herb up to 40 cm tall; branchlets pubescent with short curled more or less appressed hairs and often with spreading ones as well. Leaves elliptic, 1–6 cm long, scabrid-pubescent above often only when young, mostly hairless beneath except for hairs on the main veins; margins often scabrid; petiole c. 1 mm long, often densely pubescent and with ciliate margins; stipule sheath 1–3 mm long, divided into 6–9(15) fimbriae, 1–5 mm long, ciliate. Inflorescences numerous, present in most axils, subglobose, up to 1.8 cm in diameter; flowers sessile or almost so; bracteoles white, 1–2 mm long. Calyx with 4 lobes, 2 narrower than the others, all with usually ciliate margins and often hairy below. Corolla white, hairless or slightly hairy outside; tube 1.4–1.9 mm long; lobes ovate, c. 1 mm long. Capsule straw-coloured, c. 1 mm long and wide.
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Worldwide distribution:	Widespread in tropical Africa as far South as Angola, northern Zambia and Malawi. Also in Seychelles, Cape Verde Islands, India,Burma, New Guinea, Marianas Islands, West Indies and tropical South America.
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Literature:	Phiri, P.S.M. (2005). A Checklist of Zambian Vascular Plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 32 Page 89. Verdcourt, B. (1988). Rubiaceae, Part 1 Flora Zambesiaca 5(1) Pages 188 - 190. (Includes a picture).

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Flora of the DRC: Mitracarpus hirtus
Flora of Malawi: Mitracarpus hirtus
Flora of Zambia: Mitracarpus hirtus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Mitracarpus hirtus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Mitracarpus hirtus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Mitracarpus hirtus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Mitracarpus hirtus
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iNaturalist: Mitracarpus hirtus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Mitracarpus hirtus
JSTOR Plant Science: Mitracarpus hirtus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Mitracarpus hirtus
Plants of the World Online: Mitracarpus hirtus
Tropicos: Mitracarpus hirtus
Wikipedia: Mitracarpus hirtus