Gyp Moonpod (Acleisanthes acutifolia)

   

• Common English Names: Gyp Moonpod
• Common Spanish Names: None known.
• Scientific Name: Acleisanthes acutifolia (a-kly-SAN-thes uh-koo-ti-FOLL-lee-uh)
• Family: Nyctaginaceae (Four O'Clock Family)
• Geographic Range: On limestone or calcareous gypseous soils in southern Big Bend and Pecos Co., Texas, south to Coahuila, northern Durango, and Zacatecas, Mexico.
• Description: Stout ascending/decumbent, much branching stems rising from a woody crown. Leaves mostly elliptic, often acutely tipped, and flowers solitary, white or creamy, tubular to 2" long.
• Notes: As with many species of the Four-O'clock Family, this plant can have either or both visible pollinator-attracting chasmogamous flowers and small, greenish self-fertilizing cleistogamous flowers hidden among the foliage.

Last Update: 23 Sep 2013