White-eye (Richardia brasiliensis)

White-eye (Richardia brasiliensis) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae, herbaceous, reproduces via seeds for the generative and stolons for the vegetative, single root, elliptical leaves, short pointed tip with a wide middle, the stem is united with the stipules and is bowl-shaped, with white hairs .

R. brasiliensis has flowers sitting on coil-shaped bulbs, resembling star-shaped bells, about 5 mm, 6 corners and whorls. All parts of the flower are white except the petals and sheath, the sepals are green.



This species grows on roadsides, rice fields and plantations, sandy soil and is drought resistant. This plant forms colonies but is not dominant.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Spermacoceae
Genus: Richardia L. in Sp. Pl.: 330 (1753)
Species: Richardia brasiliensis Gomes in Mem. Ipecacuanha Bras.: 31 (1801)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Richardsonia brasiliensis (Gomes) Klotzsch in F.G.Hayne, Getreue Darstell. Gew. 14: t. 21 (1846)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Richardia adscendens (DC.) Steud. in Nomencl. Bot., ed. 2. 1: 458 (1840)
Richardia emetica (Mart.) Schult. in Syst. Veg. 7: 1627 (1830)
Richardia rosea (A.St.-Hil.) Schult. (1830)
Richardia rosea f. albiflora Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 3(2): 112 (1898)
Richardia rosea f. lilacina Kuntze (1898)
Richardia sericea Walp. in Nov. Actorum Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Cur. 19(Suppl. 1): 354 (1843)
Richardia villosa Sessé & Moc. ex DC. in Prodr. 4: 569 (1830)
Richardsonia adscendens DC. (1830)
Richardsonia brasiliensis var. dubia Beauverd & Felipp. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève, sér. 2, 13: 7 (1921)
Richardsonia emetica Mart. in Denkschr. Königl. Akad. Wiss. München 1824: 87 (1824)
Richardsonia rosea A.St.-Hil. in Pl. Usuel. Bras.: t. 7 (1824)
Richardsonia sericea Walp. (1843)
Spermacoce adscendens Pav. ex DC. (1830)
Spermacoce ascendens Sessé & Moc. in Fl. Mexic.: 23 (1893)
Spermacoce hexandra A.Rich. in Hist. Nat. Méd. Ipécacuanha: 13 (1820)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Borhidi, A. (2006). Rubiáceas de México: 1-512. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.

Borhidi, A. (2012). Rubiáceas de México, ed. 2: 1-608. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.

Davidse, G. & al. (eds.) (2012). Flora Mesoamericana 4(2): 1-533. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.

Deb, D.B. & Gangopadhyay, M. (2025). Flora of India 14: 1-607. Botanical Survey of India.

Delprete, P.G. & Cortés-B., R. (2006 publ. 2007). A synopsis of the Rubiaceae of the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with a key to genera, and a preliminary species list. Revista de Biologia Neotropical 3: 13-96.

Delprete, P.G. (2010). Rubiaceae. Flora dos estados de Goiás e Tocantins 40: 1-1610. Universidade Federal de Goiás.

Delprete, P.G., Smith, L.B., Klein, R.M. (2005). Flora Ilustrada Catarinense 2: 349-842. Herbário "Barbosa Rodrigues", Atají, Brasil.

Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Jones, R.L. (2005). Plant life of Kentucky. An illustrated guide to the vascular flora: 1-833. The universitry press of Kentucky.

Kotiya, A., Solanki, Y. & Reddy, G.V. (2020). Flora of Rajasthan: 1-769. Rajasthan state biodiversity board.

Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.

Puff, C., Chayamarit, K., Chamchumroon, V. & Esser, H.-J. (2021). Flora of Thailand 15(1): 1-235. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.

Retief, E. & Meyer, N.L. (2017). Plants of the Free State inventory and identification guide. Strelitzia 38: 1-1236. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

Sant'Ana Melhem, T., das Graças Lapa Wanderley, M., Ehlin Martins, S., Jung-Mendaçolli, S.L., Shepherd, G.J. & Kirizawa, M. (eds.) (2007). Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo 5: 1-476. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo.

Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.

Thiombiano, A., Schmidt, M., Dressler, S., Ouédraogo, A., Hahn, K. & Zizka, G. (2012). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Burkina Faso. Boissiera 65: 1-391.

Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2011). Flora of China 19: 1-884. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Zuloaga, F.O. & Zanotti, C.A. (eds.) (2022). Flora Argentina. Flora vascular de la República Argentina 19(3): 1-384. INTA, IMBIV & IBODA.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 巴西墨苜蓿 - 巴西拟鸭舌癀
Chinese (traditional): 巴西擬鴨舌癀
English: White-eye, Tropical Richardia
Indonesia: Mata putih, Goletrak beuti
Java: Tapak moto, Matean
Sunda: Goletrak beuti

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