Hophornbeam Copperleaf, Pineland Threeseed Mercury
Acalypha ostryifolia Riddell
Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family)
▲ seedling
▲ young mature plant
▲ ▼ young plants
▲ young, mature plant showing characteristic bent-down angle of leaves
▲ ▼ flowering plants
▲ ▼ flowering plants
▲ closer-view of flowering stem and flowers
Hophornbeam Copperleaf:
· summer annual that grows 10-30” tall with branched, upright stems, making a pyramidal shaped plant
· leaves are alternate, oval to heart-shaped with small teeth along the margins
· flowers are on upright, ½” wide, 1-6” tall, greenish terminal spikes, with fringed bracts between flowers in spikes
· stems are covered with fine hairs which may be nettle-like (cause irritation, itching, rashes)
· does not have milky sap like some other members of the Spurge (Euphorbiaceae) family
· found in cultivated fields, gardens, roadsides, non-crop areas
· somewhat similar in appearance to redroot pigweed, but pigweed leaves are not indented at the base where the petiole joins the leaf blade
