Common names (selected) English: Virginia Copperleaf, Virginia three-seeded mercury, wax balls, copper-leaf, mercury-weed; German: virginisches Kupferblatt
Description: summer annual
Native regions and distribution: Native to eastern North America. Also currently found in parts of South America and Europe.
Urban habitat: found along edges of sidewalks, roads, railroad tracks, riverbanks, at edges of buildings, in waste areas, vacant lots, and cultivated landscapes; thrives in full sun or partial shade.
Ecological function: disturbance-adapted colonizer of bare ground; food for wildlife.
History/human uses: Acalypha is derived from "Acalepha" the Greek word for nettle while virginica indicates that the type specimen was found in Virginia. The plant was used medicinally by the Cherokee for treatment of kidney and urinary tract ailments.