White Alternanthera brasiliana flower heads and yellowish buds grow beside dark purple leaves on a hairy stem

Alternanthera brasiliana (Brazilian Joyweed)

Name: Alternanthera brasiliana (Brazilian Joyweed)
Address: PA

Native from Mexico through tropical America to northeastern Argentina, this perennial herb or small shrub reaches about 6.5 feet tall. Purple-leaved forms are grown for borders and groundcover; their foliage becomes greener in shade. Small white flowers form papery heads above the leaves. It spreads by seed and by stem fragments that root when they touch soil. It has naturalized in Queensland, Australia and Niue in the South Pacific. Purple-leaved garden forms are invasive around Sarina, Queensland, where dense growth smothers native groundcover and hinders regeneration. Photographed in Panama.

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Numerous white Alternanthera brasiliana flower heads rise on branching stems above dark purple foliage

Alternanthera brasiliana forms a mass of dark foliage covered with small pale flowerheads beside a pool

Alternanthera brasiliana carries numerous small rounded pale flowerheads above purple stems and leaves

Alternanthera brasiliana has two pale yellow flowerheads emerging beside a pointed burgundy leaf

Alternanthera brasiliana forms a dense bush with cream flowerheads above dark foliage

Alternanthera brasiliana spreads pale flowerheads across branching burgundy stems

Alternanthera brasiliana has an airy crown covered with small cream flowerheads

Alternanthera brasiliana bears numerous small white flowerheads on spreading slender branches

Alternanthera brasiliana forms a sunlit planting of dark purple leaves with scattered pale flowerheads

Alternanthera brasiliana has rounded cream-white flowerheads above dark purple foliage on reddish stems