Asian copperleaf

Overview

Acalypha australis is a widespread East Asian annual of open, disturbed habitats. BiosalineDB also lists coastal mudflats, but the page’s general habitat information and cited chemistry/pharmacology papers do not substantiate that claim. [S1, S2, S3]

Names and classification

Accepted as Acalypha australis L. [S2, S3, S5]

POWO, Flora of China, and VicFlora use Acalypha australis L.; the cited sources do not indicate a synonym treatment that changes the species circumscription. [S2, S3, S5]

Morphology and identification

An annual herb with alternate, ovate to rhombic-ovate, toothed leaves. Small unisexual flowers occur in axillary or nearly terminal spikes, and the fruit is a small capsule. Identification among Acalypha species relies in part on leaf shape and inflorescence structure. [S2, S3]

Distribution, habitat and phenology

BiosalineDB lists plains, hillsides, and wasteland as general habitats, while its salinity field separately mentions coastal mudflats; its cited papers concern chemistry or pharmacology. VicFlora describes the species as an annual of open, disturbed sites. [S1, S2, S3, S4, S5]

BiosalineDB and Flora of China each report flowering and fruiting from April to December; these are source-specific records, not a range-wide calendar. [S1, S5, S6]

Salinity in natural habitats

Available habitat records do not provide a salt-marsh locality or saline root-zone measurement tied to this species; the BiosalineDB coastal-mudflat claim lacks ecological support. [S1, S2, S3]

Salinity studies

The available sources report no plant-growth trial or quantitative salinity response for this species.

Reported mechanisms and ecological adaptations

The available sources report no study of ion regulation, osmotic responses, or other salt-stress mechanisms in this species. [S1, S2, S3]

Conclusions and evidence gaps

The BiosalineDB coastal-mudflat habitat entry lacks ecological support; field surveys and controlled experiments are needed to establish whether the species occurs in natural saline sites and how it grows under salt treatment. [S1, S2, S3, S4]