Alternanthera brasiliana, also known as large purple alternanthera, metal weed, bloodleaf, parrot leaf, ruby leaf, Brazilian joyweed, purple alternanthera, purple joyweed, is a flowering plant of the amaranth family that is native to the forests of South America and as well as Central America, ranging from northeastern Mexico to northeastern Argentina. It is grown as an ornamental plant.
Alternanthera brasiliana var. villosa, a variety known as little ruby or ruby leaf alternanthera, is also known by the synonym Alternanthera dentata.
Description
Flowers
It is an erect, sprawling, herbaceous plant that may grow up to 3 metres tall, though it is usually less than 1 metre as a cultivated plant. The plant's stems, which range between red, green and purple, are delicately hirsute when juvenile, though they'd become glabrescent as they get older. Its opposite leaves, which are 1–10 cm long and 0.7–5 cm wide, are usually coloured purple-specked or luminous reddish-purple. It may lose some of its leaves in winter, making it partially "deciduous" in places that have slightly cool winters.
Its vanilla-coloured, pom-pom flowers are ordered in compact clusters (7–20 mm long) in the top leaf branching and are small in shape. These clusters are rounded to slightly lengthened in shape and are foaled on stalks which are normally 3–10 cm long. It can flower any time of the year, but in temperate and cooler subtropical climates it flowers more often in winter. Its very small brown fruit (1.5–2 mm long) contains one seed that's generally hidden within the older flower parts.
Varieties
Two varieties are accepted.
Alternanthera brasiliana var. brasiliana – northeastern Mexico to central Brazil
Alternanthera brasiliana var. villosa (Moq.) Kuntze - southeastern Mexico to northeastern Argentina.
Cultivation
It is used as an ornamental plant with many cultivars, such as 'Purple Prince' and 'Little Ruby' (used for the Alternanthera brasiliana var. villosa...
