Synonyms: Pratia APNI*
Description: Annual or perennial herbs usually glabrous; stems erect and mostly few-branched or prostrate, monoecious [or dioecious], often with milky sap, usually with a tap root, rarely with adventitious roots.
Leaves alternate, cauline leaves sometimes reduced to bracts, margins toothed or rarely lobed or entire.
Inflorescence terminal and cymose or raceme-like or flowers solitary, with 1–3 leaf-like or reduced bracts or bracteoles. Flowers unisexual. Calyx shortly tubular, lobed. Corolla tube split almost to base on upper side, 2-lipped, with the upper lip of 2 erect or recurved often much shorter lobes, and the lower one of 3 spreading lobes. Stamens fused to corolla at base; filaments sometimes splitting with age; 3 upper anthers slightly longer and with or without hairs, the 2 lower ones shorter with or without apical hairs. Ovary inferior, 2-locular; stigma 2-lobed.
Fruit a capsule dehiscing mainly loculicidally, 2-valved.
Distribution and occurrence: World: >300 species, cosmopolitan, especially tropical & subtropical regions of North America, southern Africa & Australia. Australia: c. 20 species (native), all States.
Text by B. Wiecek
Taxon concept:
| | Key to the species | |
| 1 | Peduncles <5 mm long | 2 |
| Peduncles >5 mm long | 4 |
| 2 | Leaves to 12 mm long; corolla to 5 mm long | 3 |
| Leaves 10–30 mm long; corolla >5 mm long
Back to 1 | Pratia concolor |
| 3 | Leaves oblong to elliptic; 1–3 mm wide; inland species | Pratia darlingensis |
| Leaves ovate to spathulate or ± circular, 2.5–8 mm wide; tableland species.
Back to 2 | Pratia sp. A sensu Harden (1992) |
| 4 | Leaves usually obovate to spathulate, margins mostly entire | Pratia surrepens |
| Leaves not as above, margins ± toothed
Back to 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Leaves ovate to lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 10–30 mm long, glabrous | 6 |
| Leaves ovate to ± circular, mostly <10 mm long, usually hairy or glabrescent
Back to 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Peduncles 10–70 mm long; calyx lobes with a small basal tooth on each side; leaves mostly petiolate, often purplish on lower surface | Pratia purpurascens |
| Peduncles 3–13 mm long; calyx lobes without basal teeth; leaves sessile, green on lower surface
Back to 5 | Pratia concolor |
| 7 | Peduncles mostly <20 mm long; corolla 4–6 mm long | Pratia puberula |
| Peduncles >20 mm long, corolla usually 6–10 mm long
Back to 5 | Pratia pedunculata |
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