View source for Urena lobata

{{short description|Species of plant from Brazil and some islands of South America}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Caesarweed (Urena lobata).jpg
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Ghogue, J.-P. |date=2020 |title=''Urena lobata'' |page=e.T136663001A136663005 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T136663001A136663005.en |access-date=17 December 2022}}</ref>
|genus = Urena
|species = lobata
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Varieties
| subdivision_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=564786-1 |title=''Urena lobata'' L. |access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref>
| subdivision = {{Species list
 | Urena lobata var. glauca | (Blume) Borss.Waalk.
 | Urena lobata var. henryi | S.Y.Hu
 | Urena lobata subsp. lobata |
 | Urena lobata var. mauritiana | Marais
 | Urena lobata var. multifida | (Cav.) Hochr.
 | Urena lobata subsp. sinuata | (L.) Borss.Waalk.
 | Urena lobata var. tricuspis | (Cav.) Gürke
 | Urena lobata var. umbonata | Marais
 | Urena lobata var. yunnanensis | S.Y.Hu
}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO" />
| synonyms = {{Collapsible list |
 {{Species list
 | Hibiscus americanus | (L.) Mabb.
 | Malachra urena | DC.
 | Urena aculeata | Mill.
 | Urena americana | L.
 | Urena blumei | Hassk.
 | Urena callifera | C.B.Clarke
 | Urena cana | Wall.
 | Urena chinensis | Osbeck
 | Urena diversifolia | Schumach. & Thonn.
 | Urena grandiflora | DC.
 | Urena haenkeana | Walp.
 | Urena heteromorpha | Montrouz.
 | Urena heterophylla | C.Presl
 | Urena heterophylla | Schrad.
 | Urena heterophylla | Sm.
 | Urena lappago | Sm.
 | Urena lappago var. glauca | Blume
 | Urena lobata f. swartzii | Hochr.
 | Urena lobata f. umbrosa | Hochr.
 | Urena lobata subsp. alba | S.N.Pardeshi & Srinivasu
 | Urena lobata var. americana | (L.) Gürke
 | Urena lobata var. chinensis | (Osbeck) S.Y.Hu
 | Urena lobata var. genuina | Miq.
 | Urena lobata var. lappago | (Sm.) M.R.Almeida
 | Urena lobata var. nummularia | Hochr.
 | Urena lobata var. reticulata | (Cav.) Gürke
 | Urena lobata var. rhombifolia | A.Gray
 | Urena lobata var. scabriuscula | (DC.) Walp.
 | Urena lobata var. sinuata | (L.) Miq.
 | Urena lobata var. tomentosa | (Blume) Walp.
 | Urena lobata var. trilobata | (Vell.) Gürke
 | Urena lobata var. viminea | (Cav.) Gürke
 | Urena loureiroi | Meisn. ex Steud.
 | Urena manihot | Klotzsch
 | Urena mauritiana | Sieber ex Colla
 | Urena microcarpa | DC.
 | Urena monopetala | Lour.
 | Urena morifolia | DC.
 | Urena multifida | Cav.
 | Urena muricata | DC.
 | Urena obtusata | Guill. & Perr.
 | Urena paradoxa | Kunth
 | Urena phyllomorpha | Steud.
 | Urena repanda | Blume
 | Urena reticulata | Cav.
 | Urena ribesia | Sm.
 | Urena scabriuscula | DC.
 | Urena sieberi | Colla
 | Urena sinuata | L.
 | Urena sinuata | Sw.
 | Urena sinuata var. ceylanica | Gürke
 | Urena swartzii | DC.
 | Urena tomentosa | Blume
 | Urena tomentosa | Wall.
 | Urena trichocarpa | Gagnep.
 | Urena tricuspis | Cav.
 | Urena trilobata | Vell.
 | Urena viminea | Cav.
 | Urena virgata | Guill. & Perr.
}}
}}
}}

'''''Urena lobata''''', commonly known as '''Caesarweed'''<ref>{{PLANTS|id=URLO|taxon=Urena lobata|access-date=27 July 2015}}</ref> <!-- What about "Caesar's weed?" http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/460 (archived=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729220353/http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu:80/node/460) -->or '''Congo jute''',<ref name="Roul2009">{{cite book|author=Chhabilendra Roul|title=The International Jute Commodity System|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r0gH_ID_AMcC&pg=PA7|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-7211-274-5|page=7}}</ref><ref name="Holm1997">{{cite book|author=LeRoy Holm|title=World Weeds: Natural Histories and Distribution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7JjRXH6uq4C&pg=PA238|date=5 March 1997|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-471-04701-8|page=238}}</ref> is a tender perennial, variable, erect, ascendant [[shrub]] or [[subshrub]] measuring up to {{convert|0.5|meters|feet}} to {{convert|2.5|meters|feet}} tall. The stems are covered with minute, star-like hairs and often tinged purple. Considered a [[weed]], it is considered to be native throughout much of the tropical and subtropical world, including South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Pacific Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Urena lobata L. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:564786-1 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref><ref name="globinmed">{{cite web|url=http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79095:urena-lobata-l&catid=385:u |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225214012/https://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79095:urena-lobata-l&catid=385:u |archive-date=25 February 2021 |title=Urena lobata L.|work=globinmed.com|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="germplasm">{{GRIN | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref><ref name = "Bob"/>

== Description ==
Each individual plant grows as a single stalk that freely sends out bushy stems. The leaf shape is [[Leaf shape|palmately lobed]] (having lobes that spread out like fingers on a hand). Like the stem, the leaves also have tiny hairs. Flowers of the plant are pink-violet and grow one centimeter in width. The fruit is also hairy and may stick to clothing or fur.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Caesar's weed|url = http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/460 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729220353/http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu:80/node/460 |archive-date=29 July 2015 |website = Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants|access-date = 31 July 2015|publisher = University of Florida, IFAS}} [https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/urena-lobata/ Also here]</ref>

== Invasiveness ==

The plant can invade areas of ecological disturbance as well as eroded places, crop plantations, and pastures. Caesarweed is considered an invasive species in the state of Florida, United States. There it grows as an annual in most areas except for in the southern region, where it may live perennially. In Florida, the plant has been reported to grow rapidly from {{convert|0.5|meter|feet}} to {{convert|2|meter|feet}} by the end of its first year of growth. The plant is not competitive in tall grasses or under canopies.<ref name=":0" />

The [[University of Florida]]'s pest management procedures for handling this plant include prevention through treating before seeds form and maneuvering vehicles to avoid driving near Caesarweed, mulching and shading to prevent germination, and the use of chemical herbicides.<ref name=":0" />

==Aguaxima in ''L'Encyclopédie''==
[[File:Encyclopdieoud01soci 0813.jpg|left|thumb|Page 693 of the ''[[Encyclopédie]]''<br>(3rd edition, volume 1)]]
In the ''[[Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers]]'' (Vol. 1 [1751], p.&nbsp;191), [[Denis Diderot]]'s article about the plant is listed under the heading '''''Aguaxima''''', a common Portuguese name for the plant.<ref name="original">Diderot, Denis. (1751). Aguaxima. ''[[Encyclopédie|Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de Gens de lettres]]''. Retrieved 16 September 2013 from [http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:905.encyclopedie0513 The Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL)] [https://web.archive.org/web/20210203232954/http://artflsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:905.encyclopedie0513 Archived].</ref><ref name="medicinalplants">[http://www.cpqba.unicamp.br/plmed/docs/colecao2002.pdf Brazilian popular names of various medicinal plants]. Coleção Brasileira de Microrganismos de Ambiente e Indústria. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210505225514/http://www.cpqba.unicamp.br/plmed/docs/colecao2002.pdf Archived]</ref><ref name="diccionario">[http://www.hostdime.com.br/dicionario/guaxima.html Guaxima]. ''Diccionario da Lingua Portuguesa'' (hostdime.com.br). {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613172819/http://www.hostdime.com.br/dicionario/guaxima.html |date=13 June 2008 }}</ref> The entry is notable not for its one-sentence description of its subject ("Aguaxima, a plant growing in Brazil and on the islands of South America."),<ref name="original" /> but for Diderot's editorializing that follows it. Frustrated by the uselessness of such a poor article, he muses about what audience it could possibly serve. His conclusion is a succinct critique of the popular assumption that [[encyclopedia]]s should be measured according to their breadth or comprehensiveness rather than quality.<ref>{{cite book|last=Blom|first=Philipp|title=A Wicked Company: The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment|pages=247–248|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFEa7773xAIC|publisher=Basic Books|date=2013|isbn=9780465022786}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Planet Word|last=Davidson|first=J.P.|publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin UK]]|date=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqfUJI3a5q4C|pages=295–297|isbn=9780141968933}}</ref><!--"‘An encyclopedia … should encompass not only the fields already covered by the academies, but each and every branch of human knowledge,’ Diderot wrote." -->

<blockquote>Aguaxima, a plant growing in Brazil and on the islands of South America. This is all that we are told about it; and I would like to know for whom such descriptions are made. It cannot be for the natives of the countries concerned, who are likely to know more about the aguaxima than is contained in this description, and who do not need to learn that the aguaxima grows in their country. It is as if you said to a Frenchman that the pear tree is a tree that grows in France, in Germany, etc . It is not meant for us either, for what do we care that there is a tree in Brazil named aguaxima, if all we know about it is its name? What is the point of giving the name? It leaves the ignorant just as they were and teaches the rest of us nothing. If all the same I mention this plant here, along with several others that are described just as poorly, then it is out of consideration for certain readers who prefer to find nothing in a dictionary article or even to find something stupid than to find no article at all.<ref name="translation">Diderot, Denis. (2007). Aguaxima. ''Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une Société de Gens de lettres'' (translation by Malcolm Eden). Retrieved 16 September 2013 from [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/did2222.0000.243?view=text;rgn=main The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project website]. Ann Arbor, MI: MPublishing, University of Michigan Library.</ref></blockquote>

==References==

{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name = "Bob">{{cite book|title=Upland Rice Weeds of South and Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLLDcrAyn2kC&pg=PA58|year=1999|publisher=Int. Rice Res. Inst.|isbn=978-971-22-0130-1|pages=58–59}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikispecies|Urena lobata}}
{{WestAfricanPlants|Urena lobata}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1496720}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hibisceae]]
[[Category:Flora of Central America]]
[[Category:Flora of the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Flora of Southern America]]
[[Category:Flora of tropical Asia]]
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Flora of China]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Encyclopédie]]