Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
Report on invasive plant species on Niue
Appendix 2.
Table 1.
Species that are invasive elsewhere in similar ecosystems but are not known to be present
in Niue
Table 2. Introduced species that are invasive elsewhere
and are also invasive or potentially invasive in Niue
Table 3. Species that are reported as invasive or weedy
elsewhere and are common or weedy in Niue
Table 4. Native and naturalized species that exhibit
aggressive behavior
| Scientific Name | Common Names | Family | Habit |
| Acacia auriculiformis | English: Papuan wattle, auri, earleaf acacia, northern black wattle, ear-pod wattle; Other: tuhkehn pwelmwahu (Pohnpei) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia confusa | English: Formosa koa, Formosa acacia; Other: sosigi, shoshigi, sosugi, boiffuring (Guam and CNMI–Chamorro); serepa, soschghi (CNMI–Carolinian); pilampwoia (Pohnpei); ianángi, yanangi (Palau) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia farnesiana | English: Ellington curse, klu, sweet acacia; French: cassie; Other: aroma, popinac, kandaroma (Guam, CNMI); kolu (Hawai'i); vaivai vaka-vatona, vaivai vakavotona, ban baburi, oki (Fiji); te kaibakoa (Kiribati); debena (Nauru) | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Acacia longifolia | English: Sydney golden wattle, golden wattle, long-leaved wattle, long-leaved acacia, sallow wattle, coast wattle, golden rods | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia mangium | English: mangium; Other: tuhkehn pwelmwahu (Pohnpei) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia mearnsii | English: black wattle; French: acacia noir | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia melanoxylon | English: Australian blackwood, blackwood acacia | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia nilotica | English: prickly acacia, black thorn, Egyptian thorn, Nile acacia, algaroba, babul, gum arabic tree; French: acacia à gomme; Spanish: algarrobo; Other: tiare (New Caledonia) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Acacia spp. | English: acacia | Fabaceae | shrubs/trees |
| Agave sisalana | English: sisal, sisal hemp; Other: ndali, natali (Fiji); Other: ndali, natali (Fiji), malina (Hawai'i) | Agavaceae | herb |
| Ageratina riparia | English: spreading mistflower, creeping croftonweed, river eupatorium; Other: hamakua pamakani (Hawai‘i) | Asteraceae | shrub |
| Ailanthus altissima | English: tree of heaven, varnishtree | Simaroubaceae | tree |
| Albizia chinensis | English: Chinese albizia, silktree | Fabaceae | tree |
| Albizia lebbeck | English: siris-tree, rain tree, East Indian walnut, kokko, woman's-tongue tree, soros-tree, raom tree ; French: bois noir; Other: trongkon-mames, tronkon mames, mamis (Guam); kalaskas, trongkon-kalaskas (CNMI–Chamorro); schepil kalaskas (CNMI–Carolinian); ukall ra ngebard (Palau); gumorningabchey; ngumorrningobchey (Yap); 'ohai (Hawai'i); vaivai, vaivai ni vavalangi, vaivai ni vavalagi (Fiji); tamaligi pa’epa’e (Samoa); kasia (Tonga) | Fabaceae | tree |
| Alstonia macrophylla | English: devil-tree | Apocynaceae | tree |
| Andropogon gayanus | English: gamba grass, tambuki grass | Poaceae | grass |
| Andropogon glomeratus | English: bush beardgrass, bushy bluestem | Poaceae | grass |
| Andropogon virginicus | English: broomsedge, yellow bluestem, whisky grass | Poaceae | grass |
| Annona glabra | English: pond apple, alligator apple, bullock's heart, cherimoyer; French: annone des marais, corossolier des marais; Other: uto ni mbulumakau, uto ni bulumakau, kaitambo, kaitambu (Fiji) | Annonaceae | tree |
| Araujia sericifera | English: moth plant, moth catcher, white bladder flower | Asclepiadaceae | shrub |
| Ardisia crenata | English: hen's eyes, Hilo holly, coral berry, Australian holly, scratchthroat; French: arbre à noël | Myrsinaceae | shrub |
| Ardisia elliptica | English: shoebutton ardisia; Other: ati popa'a, atiu (French Polynesia) | Myrsinaceae | shrub |
| Argyreia nervosa | English: elephant creeper, Hawaiian baby woodrose , silver morning glory, woolly morning glory; French: coup d'air, liane a minguet, liane d' argent | Convolvulaceae | vine |
| Aristolochia littoralis | English: Dutchman's pipe, calico flower; Other: fue paipa holani (Tonga) | Aristolochiaceae | vine |
| Arthrostemma ciliatum | English: everblooming eavender | Melastomataceae | herb |
| Arundo donax | English: giant reed, Spanish reed, wild cane; French: canne de Provence, grand roseau; Other: ngasau ni vavalangi (Fiji); fiso papalagi (Samoa); kaho folalahi (Tonga) | Poaceae | grass |
| Asparagus densiflorus | English: asparagus fern, sprengeri fern, smilax, regal fern | Liliaceae | herb |
| Austroeupatorium inulaefolium | Asteraceae | herb | |
| Axonopus compressus | English: blanket grass, carpetgrass; Other: kambutu ni vavalangi (Fiji), vaolima (Samoa) | Poaceae | grass |
| Azadirachta indica | English: neem, nim, margosa | Meliaceae | tree |
| Barleria lupulina | English: hophead, Philippine violet | Acanthaceae | shrub |
| Bauhinia purpurea | English: purple orchid tree; purple butterfly tree, pink butterfly tree (Fiji); French: fleurs pourpres | Fabaceae | tree |
| Bauhinia variegata | English: orchid tree; mountain ebony, butterfly tree (Fiji); French: bois de boeuf, sabot boeuf, arbre de Saint-Thomas | Fabaceae | tree |
| Blainvillea gayana | Asteraceae | herb | |
| Blechum pyramidata | English: green shrimp plant, blackweed (Samoa), Browne’s blechum; Other: yerbas babui (Guam), vao uliuli (Samoa) | Acanthaceae | herb |
| Bocconia frutescens | English: bocconia, plume-poppy, tree celandine, parrotweed | Papaveraceae | shrub |
| Boerhavia coccinea | English: boerhavia, hog weed, hog feed, red spiderling, wineflower, tar vine; Other: mata pavo, patagon | Nyctaginaceae | herb |
| Brillantaisia lamium | Acanthaceae | shrub | |
| Bryophyllum delagoense | English: chandelier plant | Crassulaceae | herb |
| Buddleja asiatica | English: dog tail; Other: huelo ‘ilio (Hawai'i) | Scrophulariaceae | shrub |
| Buddleja davidii | English: orange eye, butterfly bush, summer lilac | Scrophulariaceae | shrub |
| Buddleja madagascariensis | English: butterfly bush, smoke bush | Scrophulariaceae | shrub |
| Caesalpinia decapetala | English: cats claw, Mysore thorn, Mauritius thorn, wait-a-bit; French: bois sappan; Other: puakelekino (Hawai'i) | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Calamus spp. | English: rattan; Other: rotan, bejuko-n-halumtano, rotan bejuro-n-halumtan (Guam); bangerenguis ra ngebard (Palau) | Arecaceae | shrub (palm) |
| Calliandra calothyrsus | English: powderpuff red calliandra; Other: kaliana (Samoa) | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Calliandra haematocephala | English: red powder puff; French: pompon | Fabaceae | shrub |
| Calliandra surinamensis | English: Surinamese stickpea | Fabaceae | tree |
| Callisia fragrans | English: fragrant inch plant, basketplant, spironema | Commelinaceae | herb |
| Calotropis procera | English: calotropis, rubber bush, apple of Sodom, mudar, madar, king’s crown, roostertree; French: arbre à soie | Asclepiadaceae | shrub/tree |
| Cardiospermum grandiflorum | English: balloon vine; heart seed | Sapindaceae | vine |
| Carpobrotus edulis | English: ice plant, pigface, hottentot fig | Aizoaceae | succulent |
| Castilla elastica | English: Panama rubber tree, Mexican rubber tree, uletree; Other: pulu mamoe (American Samoa) | Moraceae | tree |
| Casuarina glauca | English: swamp oak, saltmarsh ironwood, longleaf ironwood, gray sheoak | Casuarinaceae | tree |
| Cecropia obtusifolia | English: trumpet tree, guarumo | Cecropiaceae | tree |
| Cecropia peltata | English: trumpet tree; French: parasolier, faux-ricin, pisse-roux, bois cannon | Cecropiaceae | tree |
| Cedrela odorata | English: cigar box cedar, Mexican cedar, West Indian cedar, Spanish cedar, Barbados cedar; French: cèdre acajou, cèdre des barbares; Spanish: cedro cubano (Galapagos Is.); Other: sita hina (Tonga) | Meliaceae | tree |
| Cenchrus brownii | English: burgrass, burr grass, sand-bur, slimbristle sandbur | Poaceae | grass |
| Cestrum diurnum | English: inkberry, day jessamine, day cestrum, China berry; Other: thauthau (Fiji); tinta ‘n-China, tentanchinu, tintan China (Guam, CNMI); makahala (Hawai'i); sugi vao, suni vao (Samoa); vaitohi (Tonga) | Solanaceae | shrub |
| Cestrum parqui | English: green cestrum, willow-leaved jessamine, Chilean cestrum, green poison-berry | Solanaceae | shrub |
| Chloris radiata | English: plush-grass, radiate fingergrass | Poaceae |