Tragia urticifolia

Tragia urticifolia
Photo was taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order:	Euphorbiales
Family:	Euphorbiaceae
Genus:	Tragia
Species:	T. urticifolia
Binomial name
Tragia urticifolia Michx.
Natural range of Tragia urticifolia from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: nettleleaf noseburn

Description

"Monoecious, perennial, rhizomatous herbs, armed with stinging trichomes. Leaves alternate, stipulate. Racemes axillary or terminal, or both, lowest 1 or 2 flowers pistillate, the upper staminate. Flowers greenish or purplish; petals absent; staminate flowers with 3-5 sepals and 2 or 3 stamens; pistillate with 3-8 sepals and 3 stigmas. Capsule 3-locular, 4-5 mm long, 7-8 mm in diam., each locule 1-seeded. Seeds light brown with darker mottling, or entirely dark brown, ovoid, 3-3.5 mm long; caruncle obsolete." - Radford et al 1964

"Plants 2-6 dm tall, stems strict or little branched, often reclining. Leaves triangular-ovate, 2-6 cm long, 0.7-4 cm wide, simply or doubly serrate, base truncate to subcordate; petioles 5-15 mm long. Racemes 1-4 cm long." - Radford et al 1964

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida and Georgia, T. urticifolia can be found in limestone glades, recently burned pine-oak woods, longleaf pine forests, and in pine savannas (FSU Herbarium). It has been recorded to grow in sandy loam and clay loam soils (FSU Herbarium; Miller et al. 1999). Associated species include shortleaf pine, red oak, post oak, mockernut hickory, and longleaf pine (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

Flowering and fruiting have been observed June and September (FSU Herbarium).

References and notes

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: July 2015. Collectors: Ann F. Johnson, Wilson Baker, R. A. Norris, Andre F. Clewell, Robert K. Godfrey, Loran C. Anderson, Annie Schmidt, A. Johnson, M. Jenkins. States and Counties: Florida: Gadsden, Jackson, Leon, Washington. Georgia: Decatur, Lowndes, Thomas. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Miller, J. H., R. S. Boyd, et al. (1999). "Floristic diversity, stand structure, and composition 11 years after herbicide site preparation." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1073-1083.

Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 667. Print.