Alternanthera caracasana
Kunth · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Alternanthera caracasana's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 871 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI9 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics11 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Alternanthera caracasana is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names khakiweed, washerwoman and mat chaff flower. It is native to Central and South America but is well-known elsewhere as a noxious weed. It is naturalized in some areas and invasive in others and can be found across the southern half of the United States, Australia (where many people are unaware it is not native), Spain and parts of Africa. The plant has long, prostrate stems covered in small leaves which vary in shape from diamond to rounded. It grows from a rhizome and often roots from its lower nodes. Each spike inflorescence is under a centimeter wide and is covered in tiny stiff white flowers. This is a tough weed of lots, roads, railroad tracks, cleared areas, and other places that are rough, sandy, and often well-traveled. It is often confused with khaki burr, which it is related to, but it sports masses of sharp V-shaped prickles that are easily detached and embed themselves in the feet and skin.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology9
Life cycle & reproduction13
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment10
Physiology & chemistry1
Other traits2
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Alternanthera caracasana has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Alternanthera caracasana carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 965×CCDB · iber-fl · CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · CromoCat 2015
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type1 871 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions70 of 109 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Austin, US | 76 |
| Durango, MX | 56 |
| Fort Worth, US | 49 |
| Bronx, US | 43 |
| Anchorage, US | 33 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 27 |
| València, ES | 26 |
| Riverside, US | 25 |
| Saint Louis, US | 25 |
| Mexico City, MX | 22 |
| Mexico City, MX | 21 |
| Guasave, MX | 14 |
| Texas Lutheran Universitylocation not on record | 14 |
| EL PASO, US | 13 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 10 |
| San Diego, US | 10 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 10 |
| Hermosillo, MX | 8 |
| Santa Barbara, US | 8 |
| MAlocation not on record | 8 |
| BClocation not on record | 8 |
| Flagstaff, US | 8 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 7 |
| Alicante, ES | 7 |
| Universidad de Nariño (UdeNar)location not on record | 6 |
| Claremont, US | 6 |
| Phoenix, US | 5 |
| Puebla, MX | 5 |
| Lubbock, US | 5 |
| Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record | 5 |
| South Kensington, GB | 5 |
| CASlocation not on record | 5 |
| Albuquerque, US | 5 |
| Pretoria, ZA | 5 |
| Philadelphia, US | 4 |
| Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabascolocation not on record | 4 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 4 |
| Tampa, US | 4 |
| Mérida, MX | 4 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 4 |
| Davis, US | 4 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Xiamen, CN | 3 |
| Wlocation not on record | 3 |
| Aarhus, DK | 3 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| Chicago, US | 3 |
| College of the Atlantic, Museumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Mississippi State, US | 3 |
| BISHlocation not on record | 3 |
| La Paz, MX | 3 |
| National Museums of Kenyalocation not on record | 2 |
| San Luis Obispo, US | 2 |
| Córdoba, ES | 2 |
| Austin, US | 2 |
| GAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Corrientes, AR | 2 |
| Göteborg, SE | 2 |
| San Angelo, US | 2 |
| Tuscaloosa, US | 2 |
| Jackson, US | 2 |
| Kew, GB | 2 |
| Irvine, US | 2 |
| Universidad del Quindío (UniQuindío)location not on record | 2 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 2 |
| Cambridge, US | 2 |
| Puerto Ayora, EC | 2 |
| Universiti Sains Malaysialocation not on record | 1 |
| Provo, US | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record | 1 |
| MEXUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Altos de Pipe, VE | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| Clemson, US | 1 |
| DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record | 1 |
| Plocation not on record | 1 |
| Ensenada, MX | 1 |
| Pullman, US | 1 |
| Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahualocation not on record | 1 |
| Olocation not on record | 1 |
| San José, CR | 1 |
| La Paz, BO | 1 |
| AUAlocation not on record | 1 |
| Giardini Botanici Hanburylocation not on record | 1 |
| Northridge, US | 1 |
| Burlington, US | 1 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 1 |
| Berlin, DE | 1 |
| Stockholm, SE | 1 |
| Museo Nacional de Costa Rica (MNCR)location not on record | 1 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 1 |
| Bangkok, TH | 1 |
| WAGlocation not on record | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| Stephenville, US | 1 |
| Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad Herbario, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 1 |
| Madrid, ES | 1 |
| Durango, US | 1 |
| HUPCHlocation not on record | 1 |
| St. Augustine, TT | 1 |
| National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record | 1 |
| Cusco, PE | 1 |
| GJOlocation not on record | 1 |
| Vitoria, ES | 1 |
| Bloomington, US | 1 |
| Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| LDlocation not on record | 1 |
| Antiguo Cuscatlán, SV | 1 |
| Loja, EC | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Alternanthera caracasana was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.