| General Information |
| Distribution | Native to the West Indies and Mexico.In the Hawaiian Islands,
naturalized on
Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Maui.
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Habit
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Annual herbs; stems 2.5-10 dm long, branched, sparsely to moderately covered with prickles.
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Leaves
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Leaves glaucous, oblong-oblanceolate, pinnately lobed 1/2-3/4 to midrib, both surfaces sparsely covered with prickles along veins, margins somewhat sinuate-dentate, the teeth tipped with a prickle, sessile, upper ones usually somewhat clasping the stem.
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Flowers
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Buds subglobose, 1.2-1.6 cm long, sparsely prickly; sepal horns terete, 5-10 mm long; petals bright yellow, 1.7-3 cm long; stamens 30-50; ovary 4-6-carpellate.
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Fruit
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Capsules oblong to broadly ellipsoid, 3-4.2 cm long, each valve with 9-15 prickles, the longest one 7-10 mm long.
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Seeds
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Seeds numerous, 1.2-1.5 mm in diameter.
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Chromosomes
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2n = 28
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