Alternanthera helleri

Alternanthera helleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Alternanthera
Species: A. helleri
Binomial name
Alternanthera helleri
(B.L. Rob.) J.T. Howell

Alternanthera helleri is a species of plant in the Amaranthaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador. It is believed to be green in color anywhere from 90 to 100% of the year depending on altitude. The leaves are considered to be highly toxic to humans and should not be consumed under any circumstances.

Alternanthera helleri is a fall-blooming species, it can be planted at any time of year, but the best time is early/middle fall, as this provides it with an optimum blooming window when it will be in season. It is very rare to find growing in the wild, and recent national park's and forest's efforts to remove hazardous plants such as this one have drastically reduced the numbers in the wild. It is still grown, however, in laboratory settings, where scientists try to analyze just exactly what makes it so toxic to humans. It is theorized that the plant produces a powerful hemotoxin, perhaps similar to oleander in nature.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.