The genus "Acalypha" was described in the "Species Plantarum" by Linné (1753), as belonging to the "monoecia monadelphia" class along with other "Euphorbiaceae" genera such as "Croton, Jatropha" and "Ricinus". Previously it was also included in the "Corollarium Generum Plantarum" (Linné, 1737). Its definition has been changed very little ever since, and it is confirmed as a natural and well specified genus. In its "Species Plantarum", Linné sets forth the first three binominal names, i.e. "A. virginica" from North America, and "A. indica" and "A. australis" from Asia; in 1760 he describes a fourth species: "A. virgata" from Jamaica. In the same year, Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, as a result from his journey to Caribbean Sea, writes "Enumeratio Systematica Plantarum", in which species "A. villosa" and "A. carthagenensis" from Colombia, and "A. corensis" from Venezuela are described. The first "Acalypha" iconographies are also shown in the books by Jacquin; there coloured sheets of "A. villosa" (Jacquin, 1776), "A. alopecuroides" (Jacquin, 1792), "A. cuspidata, A. diversifolia" and "A. macrostachya" (Jacquin, 1797) can be found.