Ruby leaf (Alternanthera brasiliana) is a plant species in Amaranthaceae, herbaceous, chronic and extensive, growing up to 3 meters tall, shedding leaves in the dry season, has a good adaptation for many latitudes, flowering at any time of the year and pompom-shaped.
A. brasiliana has fibrous and strong roots. The stem is tubular, woody, slender and straight, the branches are paired and form a trident, red or green or purple depending on the cultivar and the buds have fine hair that will fall out as they mature.
Paired leaves, oval shaped, blunt base, sharp tip, 1-10 cm long, 0.7-5 cm wide, a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, the upper surface is red or purple or blackish green and the lower surface is red or maroon.
Flowers are white in small clusters, have stems of 3-10 cm, 7-20 mm in the top leaf branches. Brown fruit, 1.5-2 mm long, contains a seed which is generally hidden in an older part of the flower.
Ruby leaves grow wild in full sun on moist soil and are well drained in secondary forests, roadside and abandoned lands. Widely used as an ornamental plant with many cultivars. These are often harvested for antiviral and anti-diarrhea agents.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Gomphrenoideae
Genus: Alternanthera Forssk. in Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 28 (1775)
Species: Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 537 (1891)
Variety: Alternanthera brasiliana var. brasiliana, Alternanthera brasiliana var. villosa (Moq.) Kuntze
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Achyranthes brasiliana (L.) Standl. in J. Washington Acad. Sci. 5: 74 (1915)
Alternanthera dentata Scheygr. in A.A.Pulle, Fl. Suriname 1: 39 (1932)
Gomphrena brasiliana L. in Amoen. Acad. 4: 10 (1759)
Gomphrena brasiliensis Jacq. in Collectanea 2: 278 (1789)
Gomphrena dentata Moench in Suppl. Meth.: 273 (1802)
Philoxerus brasiliana (L.) Sm. in A.Rees, Cycl. 27: n.° 4 (1814)
Telanthera brasiliana (L.) Moq. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 382 (1849)
Telanthera brasiliensis Endl. in Cat. Hort. Vindob. 1: 265 (1842)
Telanthera dentata Moq. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 378 (1849)
PUBLICATIONS
Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.
Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
Barthelat, F. (2019). La flore illustrée de Mayotte: 1-687. Biotope éditions.
Boggan, J. Funck, V. & Kelloff, C. (1997). Checklist of the Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, Franch Guiana) ed. 2: 1-238. University of Guyana, Georgetown.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 4: 1-559. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
Florence, J. (2004). Flore de la Polynésie Française 2: 1-503. IRD editions, Paris.
Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].
Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 529. MIM, Deurne.
Grierson, A.J.C. & Long, D.G. (1984). Flora of Bhutan 1(2): 189-462. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.
Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.
Karthigeyan, K., Pandey, R.P. & Mao, A.A. (eds.) (2023). Flora of Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2: 1-689. Botanical Survey of India. Ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
Leti, M., Hul, S., Fouché, J.-G., Cheng, S.K. & David, B. (2013). Flore photographique du Cambodge: 1-589. Éditions Privat, Toulouse.
Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
Pedersen, T.M. (2016). Flora del Paraguay 46: 1-258. Editions des Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la ville de Genève.
Ramos Senna, L., Giulietti, A.M. & Rapini, A. (2010). Flora da Bahia: Amaranthaceae - Amaranthoideae e Gomphrenoideae. Sitientibus Sérrie Ciências Biológicas 10: 3-73.
Van Steenis, C.G.G.J. (ed.) (1948-1954). Flora Malesiana 4: 1-631. Noordhoff-Kolff N.V., Djakarta.
Zuloaga, F.O., Morrone, O. , Belgrano, M.J., Marticorena, C. & Marchesi, E. (eds.) (2008). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 107: 1-3348. Missouri Botanical Garden.
de Moura Júnior, E.G. & al. (2015). Updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes from Northern Brazil. Acta Amazonica 45: 111-132.
VERNACULAR NAME
Armenian: Ալտերնանթեր բրազիլական
Assamese: Bishalyakarani
Bengali: কেম্পু ক্রোটন Kēmpu krōṭana
Burmese: ပတ္တမြားရွက်
Chinese (simplified): 红龙苋 - 巴西莲子草 - 红龙草
Chinese (traditional): 紅龍莧
English: Ruby leaf, Purple joyweed, Large purple alternanthera, Metal weed, Bloodleaf, Parrot leaf, Purple alternanthera
Hebrew: ביצן משונן אדום
Hindi: केम्पू क्रोटन Kempu croton
Indonesian: Bayam ungu
Java: Kutilan
Kannada: Kempu Croton
Khmer: វីដស្វាយ
Lao: ໃບທັບທິມ
Lithuanian: Brazilinė alstė
Malayalam: Choracheera, Chuvanna Cheera, Croton Cheera
Nepali: केम्पु क्रोटन Kēmpu krōṭana
Portuguese: Penicilina, Caaponga, Terramicina
Russian: Альтернантера бразильская
Sinhala: පොන්නන්කන්නි Ponnankanni
Spanish: Hojas rubí
Taiwan: 紅龍莧
Tamil: பொன்னங்கன்னி Ponnankanni
Thai: บานไม่รู้โรยบราซิล
Tulu: Kempu Croton
Vietnam: Lá hồng ngọc
Aryo Bandoro
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