Melochia corchorifolia

chocolateweed, chocolate-weed
Family

Sterculiaceae

Leaf Arrangement

alternate

Leaf Attachment

petiolate

Leaf Margin

doubly serrate

Leaf Type

simple

Leaf Shape

lanceolate, ovate

Growth Form

forb, shrub

Flower Color

purple

Flower Petals

5

Flower Month

August - October

Height (meters)

0.8 - 1.5

Milky Sap

No

Armed/Unarmed

Unarmed

Origin

introduced

Lifespan

annual

Growing Season

Warm season


Wetland Class

FAC

Wetland Coefficient of Conservatism

0

Prairie Coefficient of Conservatism

-1

Field Characters

Can be mistaken for Malvastrum coromandelianum but is slender and wandlike, and not as freely branched. The leaves of Melochia corchorifolia are glaborous (not hairy) while those of Malvastrum coromandelianum have simple hairs on their upper surface. The flowers of Melochia corchorifolia are tiny and are borne in dense axillary glomerules while those of Malvastrum coromandelianum are axillary but are larger and borne on peduncles.

Cultural Information

Seeds average approximately 130,000/lb.

Natural History

Found in old fields, cultivated grounds, and waste places throughout south Louisiana and southeast Texas, rarely in some parts of north Louisiana. It is an early succession species often common in restorations the first year after planting. A native of the Old World tropics now found from Florida to Texas and north to South Carolina.

Habitat

Old fields and cultivated grounds; sandy fields.