scarlet toothcup

(Ammannia coccinea)

Conservation Status

 

No image available

 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

OBL - Obligate wetland

     
  Midwest

OBL - Obligate wetland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

OBL - Obligate wetland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Scarlet toothcup plant is an annual rising from a shallow tuft of roots.

The stems are erect to a height of about 1 to 2 or bend down near the base and lie on the ground. They are 4-angled, branched and hairless.

The leaves are opposite, stalkless, untoothed, up to 3 long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides. They narrow at the tip and widen at the base to nearly ear-like lobes that clasp the stem. They have a prominent central vein. They are green, sometimes tinted with red.

The inflorescence is a tight cluster of 3 to 5 flowers rising from the leaf axils.

The flowers are borne on short flower stalks, are about ¼ wide, and have 4 or 5 small rose-purple petals.

The fruit is a rounded capsule a little over ⅛ in diameter containing many tiny seeds.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

1 to 2

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Rose-purple

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Robust toothcup (Ammannia robusta) has light pink flowers and 1 to 3 flowers per leaf axil. It does not occur in Minnesota.

Lowland rotala (Rotala ramosior) has white flowers and only a single flower per leaf axil. The leaves attach to the stem without a stalk but do not clasp the stem.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Wet. Riverbanks, lake shores, roadside ditches, sloughs, swales, inland floodplane forests. Full sun.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

July to October

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Range Map – scarlet toothcup

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 28, 29, 30.

 
  6/8/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Rosanae  
 

Order

Myrtales (myrtles, evening primroses, and allies)  
 

Family

Lythraceae (lythrum)  
  Genus Ammannia (redstems)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Ammannia coccinea ssp. longifolia

Ammannia coccinea ssp. purpurea

Ammannia latifolia var. octandra

Ammannia pedunculata

Ammannia pubiflora

Ammannia purpurea

Ammannia sagittata var. angustifolia

Ammannia sanguinolenta

Ammannia sanguinolenta ssp. purpurea

Ammannia stylosa

Ammannia teres

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

purple ammannia

scarlet ammannia

scarlet loosestrife

scarlet toothcup

toothcup

valley redstem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Axil

The upper angle where the leaf stalk meets the stem.

 

Linear

Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.

 
 
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