Some botanical names trill from our lips like melodies--Lonicera fragrantissima, Lobelia cardinalis. Others stagger out like drunks after a party. Stachytarpheta (pronounced stack-ee-tar-FET-a) leaves us finger-poking at each syllable. Thankfully, anabundant collection of common names for members of this genus exists, testament to their widespread use in medicine and ornament in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean tropics. I like the exotic beat of rumput tahi babi or silky sounding selaseh dandi, but gardeners have also coined wild verbena (a nod to Stachytarpheta's membership in the Verbenaceae), rooster comb (awkward because it's shared with the genus Celosia), devil's coach-whip, smuggler's vervain, cimmarona, and gervao. Alas, it is by the ominous porterweed that stachytarphetas are most often known in the United States.
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