OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Malpighiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Emblica urinaria   FAMILY Phyllanthaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phyllanthus urinaria   FAMILY Euphorbiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Phyllanthus urinaria ssp. urinaria

 

COMMON NAME:
Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm140809_443

August    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Its distichous leaves are easily mistaken for leaflets of a pinnately compound leaf, per Weakley's Flora (2022).

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

Sam Pratt    sbp_1680

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Young plants are short and few-branched, with leaves in a single plane, per Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

Sam Pratt    sbp_1682

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Male flowers borne toward branchlet tip, female [and thus fruit] toward base, per Weakley's Flora (2012).

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

Sam Pratt    sbp_1682b

August    Spartanburg County    SC

Both male and female flowers have 6 sepals; petals are absent, per Flora of North America.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm140924_945

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Unique among Phyllanthus in our area in that leaves are sensitive to touch, per Flora of North America.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm140924_945b

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Leaf blade papery, abaxially gray-green or pale, or sometimes reddish tinged, per Flora of China.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm140924_949

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Leaves thin, smooth-margined, oblong, arranged in two rows on the branchlets, per Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992).

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm140930_988

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Superficially resembles Chamaecrista, but these are NOT compound leaves!

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm140930_992993

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

Capsules globose, 2-2.5mm diam., with reddish blotches, scurfy-tuberculate, per Flora of China.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm200911_7182

September    Greenville County    SC

Swamp Rabbit Trail

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

Terry Holdsclaw    tdh_p_urinaria_urinaria_1

September    Iredell County    NC

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

Terry Holdsclaw    tdh_p_urinaria_urinaria_2

September    Iredell County    NC

Lateral flowering branches have distichously arranged leaves and shed as a unit.

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm211018_4355

October    Pickens County    SC

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm211018_4356

October    Pickens County    SC

image of Emblica urinaria, Chamber Bitter, Gripeweed

JK Marlow    jkm211018_4358

October    Pickens County    SC

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Emblica urinaria   FAMILY Phyllanthaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phyllanthus urinaria   FAMILY Euphorbiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Phyllanthus urinaria ssp. urinaria

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1071

Forb
Annual
Monoecious

Habitat: Gardens, roadsides, and other disturbed ground, apparently preferring nitrogen-rich or fertilized soils, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: tropical southeast Asia

Uncommon in Coastal Plain, rare in Piedmont

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Does not have milky sap

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate: scalelike & spiral on stems; well-developed & 2-ranked on branchlets
Leaves are subtended by stipules.

FLOWER:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
Yellowish, greenish-white
6 sepals
Petals absent
3 stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual

FRUIT:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
Green
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME: