Joyweed
Alternanthera ficoidea (L.) P.Beauv.
- light
- Sun–part
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 23 cm
- wide
- 38 cm
Amaranthaceae
Also called Sanguinaria, Joseph's coat
Formerly Achyranthes ficoidea, Alternanthera brachiata, Alternanthera diffusa, Alternanthera tenella, and 11 more
When it flowers
Flowers all year in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Annual or subshrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Seasonally dry tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Trop. AmericaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
- Height
- 15 cm to 30 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Spread
- 30 cm to 46 cmRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Flowers
- WhiteRead from NC State Extension, one source
- Coldest it survives
- -1.1 °C (USDA zone 10a)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (11)
- Dutch
- Spitse Kruisbladmelde, Tengere Kruisbladmelde
- Japanese
- モヨウビユ
- Swedish
- papegojblad
- Chinese (China)
- 绿苋草
- Lithuanian
- Gležnoji alstė
- Portuguese
- Quebra-panela, espinafre-do-mato, manjerico
- Russian
- Альтернантера фикусовидная
- Chinese
- 毛蓮子草, 五色苋, 绿苋草
- French
- Alternanthère ficoïde
- Hungarian
- Karcsú Papagájlevél
- Finnish
- loistokaijalehti
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- 3D model: Alternanthera ficoidea (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.