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California Copperleaf
Acalypha californica
The flowering shrub Acalypha californica is known as the California copperleaf, and sometimes by the older name Pringle three-seeded mercury. It is the only Acalypha species native to California, where it is most abundant in the hills of San Diego County. It is a member of the chaparral plant community.
The plant bears hairy, juicy, toothed leaves which despite the plant's common name are light green, never copper in color. Each flower is made up of a staminate part, which appears as a long spike of tiny red and pink bracts, and a pistillate part at the base of the spike, which is a cup made up of green bracts bearing the ovary.
From the article Acalypha californica on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
California copperleaf is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. In California it grows in just two southern counties, Orange and San Diego counties, while in Arizona it is found in just Pima County. It is native to all four states of northwestern Mexico, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa.
Wikipedia: “Range and habitat”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Acalypha californica in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 75258.