Laportea aestuans

Taxobox


status =
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Urticaceae
genus = "Laportea"
species = "L. aestuans"
binomial = "Laportea aestuans"
binomial_authority = (L.) Chew
synonyms =
*"Urtica aestuans"
*"Fleurya aestuans" (L.) Gaudich.

"Laportea aestuans" ("Urtica aestuans"), the West Indian woodnettle, is an annual herb of the Urticaceae or nettle family.

It is possibly native to tropical Africa, although it now is widespread as an introduced species throughout both the western hemisphere and eastern hemisphere tropics and subtropics, including the USA (California, Florida, Puerto Rico) Cite web|url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Laportea+aestuans&mode=sciname&submit.x=15&submit.y=13|title=Laportea aestuans|accessdate=2008-06-21|publisher=Plants USDA] , Central America, the West Indies, [cite web | url = http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500742 | work = Flora of North America | title = Laportea aestuans] India, Sumatra and Java.

"L. aestuans" is a food plant for an edible snail, "Archachatina ventricosa", native to parts of coastal West Africa. It is a weedy species in Taiwan.cite journal|last=Hsu|first=Tsai-Wen|coauthors=Tzen-Yuh Chiang, and Nien-June Chung|title="Laportea aestuans" (L.) Chew (Urticaceae), a newly recorded plant in Taiwan|journal=Taiwania|volume=48|issue=1|pages=72–76|publisher=|date=2003-03|accessdate=2008-06-20] It is a possible host reservoir in Nigeria for African cassava mosaic virus, an important plant pest of a major African food crop, "Manihot esculenta" or cassava.

References