Acalypha ciliata Forssk.

ciliata: fringed with hairs; ciliate

Erect annual herb, up to 1.3 m tall. Stems finely velvety. Leaves elliptic-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, up to 10 × 5.5 cm, 3-5-veined from the base, thinly textured, hairless to sparingly hairy on both surfaces, often more so on the midrib and veins below; margin toothed; petiole up to 7 cm long. Flowers in axillary spikes, up to 3cm long, unisexual on the same inflorescence. Female flowers below, held in bracts with ciliate, filiform teeth on the margin, up to 4 mm long; male flowers above, very small, greenish with yellow anthers. Fruit 1.5 × 2.5 mm, 3-lobed, smooth, more or less hairless.

Widespread in tropical Africa (including Mozambique) but absent from the Congo basin; also in Yemen, Pakistan , India and Sri Lanka.

Acalypha ciliata is a species in the botanical family Euphorbiaceae. It occurs widely in Africa where it is eaten as a vegetable, or fed to animals. In West Africa and East Africa it is used as a medicinal plant.