| General Information |
| Distribution | Native to Central and South America and the West Indies.In the Hawaiian Islands,
naturalized on
Maui, Hawai`i.
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Habit
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Branched shrubs; stems 2-6 m long, pith white.
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Leaves
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Leaves often somewhat congested toward the tips of the branches, oblong-obovate to oblong-lanceolate, 10-45 cm long, 4-20 cm wide, pinnately cleft ca. 1/2 to midrib, upper surface sparsely strigillose, lower surface glaucous and puberulent, especially along veins.
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Flowers
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Panicles densely branched, 20-60 cm long, bracts lanceolate, 2-5 mm long, pedicels 3-10 mm long; sepals erect, elliptic, 8-10 mm long; stamens 8-10; filaments filiform; anthers linear, pendent by the filaments at anthesis.
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Fruit
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Capsules grayish at maturity, pulp pale yellow, ca. 12 mm long, stipe ca. 5 mm long.
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Seeds
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Seed 1, black, 6-7 mm long, the surface smooth and glossy, the lower 1/2-1/3 covered with a red, pulpy aril.
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Chromosomes
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2n = 20, 40
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