Mascarene Island Leaf-Flower (Phyllanthus tenellus)

What Is Mascarene Island leaf-flower and Where Does It Come From?

Phyllanthus tenellus is a small herb in the Phyllanthaceae family, native to the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Réunion) and possibly eastern Africa and Arabia, now naturalised as a weed across the tropics and subtropics. It grows 20–50 cm tall (rarely 60 cm), with a thin, reddish main stem bearing only scales; the side branches look like compound leaves, with elliptic leaflets about 1 cm long alternating in two rows. Tiny white, star-shaped flowers sit in the leaf axils, followed by round, green 2 mm capsules hanging on long stalks — the feature that separates it from chamberbitter (P. urinaria). The capsules burst and fling seeds more than a metre. It turns up in flower beds, lawns, nursery containers and greenhouses, especially where irrigation is frequent. In Brazil it is one of the herbs sold as quebra-pedra ("stone-breaker").