Distribution
Ukraine (introduced)

Native to: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia.
Introduced into: Alabama, Albania, Algeria, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Ascension, Assam, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bismarck Archipelago, Botswana, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, California, Cambodia, Canary Is., Caprivi Strip, Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Central American Pac, Central European Rus, Chad, Chagos Archipelago, Chile Central, Chile North, Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., Colombia, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Easter Is., Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Florida, Gabon, Galápagos, Gambia, Georgia, Gilbert Is., Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Gulf States, Haiti, Honduras, Illinois, India, Italy, Jamaica, Juan Fernández Is., Kazan-retto, Kentucky, Kermadec Is., Korea, Leeward Is., Libya, Louisiana, Madeira, Maldives, Mali, Marquesas, Mauritania, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Morocco, Mozambique Channel I, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New South Wales, New Zealand North, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Niue, Norfolk Is., Ogasawara-shoto, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Pitcairn Is., Portugal, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rwanda, Selvagens, Senegal, Sicilia, Society Is., Socotra, South China Sea, Southwest Caribbean, Spain, Sri Lanka, St.Helena, Sudan, Sulawesi, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Tunisia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Wallis-Futuna Is., West Himalaya, Western Sahara, Windward Is., Zaïre.

Plants 1-4[-5+] m. Stems erect. Leaves: stipules 2-3 cm, connate, leaving conspicuous scar around stem; petiole 10-55 cm, with (0-)1-3 cuplike glands on proximal adaxial surface, 2 glands at apex adaxially; blade circular in outline, 15-50 cm diam., base peltate, marginal teeth gland-tipped, laminar glands scattered on adaxial surface, lobes 7-12, lanceolate or oblanceolate, increasing in size apically, apex narrowly acute to acuminate. Inflorescences 6-30 cm, to 45 cm in fruit; bracts caducous except for 2 persistent glands. Pedicels: staminate 5-15 mm; pistillate 0.5-5 mm, elongating to 40 mm in fruit. Staminate flowers: calyx lobes ovate, 7-8 mm; stamen cluster ± spheric, 10-12 mm diam. Pistillate flowers: sepals ovate, 4-5 mm; ovary densely covered in slender-conic, bristle-tipped outgrowths; styles red or orange-red, 4-5 mm; stigmas distinctly spreading, papillose. Capsules dark red, echinate, subglobose, 1.5-2 cm diam. Seeds mottled brown, 8-11 mm, shiny. 2n = 20.
Flowering and fruiting summer–late fall. Waste ground, riverbanks, sand and gravel bars, ravines, margins of cultivated fields, roadsides, along railways; 0-700 m.