| General Information |
| Distribution | Cultivated and naturalized worldwide in the tropics and subtropics.In the Hawaiian Islands,
naturalized on
Ni`ihau, Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Kaho`olawe, Hawai`i.
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Habit
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Shrub or small tree, usually 2–4(–8) m tall, younger parts glaucous, whole plant often reddish or purplish; stems usually unbranched in proximal part and branched above, branches ascending, internodes hollow.
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Leaves
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Leaves petiolate; blade (10–)30–60(–100) cm long, nearly as wide, margin serrate; petiole 20–40 cm; stipules connate, 2–3 cm.
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Flowers
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Staminate flowers borne below the pistillate ones, on pedicel 5–17 mm long, calyx lobes 5–8 mm long, 3–5 mm wide, stamens 7–8 mm; pistillate flowers on pedicel 5–10 mm long, sepals ca. 5 mm, styles 2–5 mm.
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Fruit
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Fruit subglobose, ellipsoid, or ovoid, 10–25 mm in diameter, spines to ca. 5 mm.
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Seeds
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Seeds gray, silvery, or beige with darker mottling, 7–12 mm long.
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Chromosomes
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2n = 10, 20.
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Contributor
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Warren Wagner
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