Acmella oleracea (L.) R.K.Jansen, Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Spilanthes acmella sensu various authors.; Spilanthes oleracea L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Brazilian cress, Para cress, para-cress, toothache plant

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants annual.  Stems decumbent to usually erect, not rooting at nodes, green to red, 2.5-7.5 mm in diameter, glabrous.  Petioles 20-64 mm long, glabrous to very sparsely pilose, narrowly winged.  Leaf blades 53-106 mm long, 40-79 mm wide, broadly ovate to deltate, base truncate to short attenuate, apex short acuminate to usually acute, usually glabrous above and below, margin dentate.  Peduncles 3.5-12.5 cm long, 2-3.8 mm in diameter, glabrous to very sparsely pilose.  Heads discoid, 10.5-23.5 mm high, 11-17 mm in diameter.  Receptacle 8.3-21.5 mm high, 3.5-8.5 mm in diameter, occasionally 2 per head, apex acute.  Phyllaries 15-18, triseriate, herbaceous, margin entire to sinuate, sparsely ciliate; outer series 5-6, 5.8-7.3 mm long, 2.1-2.8 mm wide, usually narrowly ovate to lanceolate or sometimes ovate, apex acute; middle series 5-6, 5.8-7.3 mm long, 2.1-2.8 mm wide, lanceolate, apex acute; inner series 5-6, 5.5-6.5 mm long, 1.3-2 mm wide, lanceolate, apex acute.  Pales 5.3-6.2 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, apex acute, stramineous or often with a purple-red tinge.  Disc florets 400-620; corollas 2.7-3.3 mm long, yellow, 5-merous; tube 0.5-0.7 mm long, 0.2-0.4 mm in diameter; throat 2.2-2.6 mm long, 0.5-1 mm in diameter; lobes 0.3-0.6 mm long, 0.2-0.4 mm wide; stamens 1.4-1.7 mm long, anthers black; style 1.8-2.5 mm long, the branches 0.6-0.8 mm long; achenes 2-2.5 mm long, 0.9-1.1 mm wide, moderately to densely ciliate with straight-tipped hairs; lacking a cork-like margin and shoulders; pappus of 2 sub- or unequal bristles, the longer bristle 0.5-1.5 mm long, the shorter 0.3-1.3 mm long" (Jansen, 1985; pp. 65-66).

Habitat/ecology:  "Known only from cultivation and found escaped in weedy habitats. It is grown primarily in botanical and herb gardens for medicinal and ornamental purposes" (Jansen, 1985; pp. 65-66).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Only cultivated, probable origin Peru (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced invasive	Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe (1996) (p. 379) Rudérale, nombreuses localités
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 38) Voucher cited: MacKee 38456
Papua New Guinea Bismarck Archipelago	Bismarck Archipelago		Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty] (1984) (p. 563) Widespread, in plantations, gardens, waysides and farms; not abundant.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced cultivated	Ching-I Peng, ed. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Acmella oleracea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Acmella oleracea as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Acmella oleracea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Ching-I Peng, ed. 2011. Digital flora of Taiwan (online resource).

Gargominy, Oliver/Bouchet, Philipe/Pascal, Michel/Jaffre, Tanguy/Tourneu, Jean-Christophe. 1996. Conséquences des introductions d'espèces animales et végétales sur la biodiversité en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Rev. Ecol. (Terre Vie) 51:375-401.

Jansen, Robert K. 1985. The systematics of Acmella (Asteraceae-Heliantheae). Sys. Bot. Monogr. 8:1-115.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Peekel, P. G. [translated by E. E. Henty]. 1984. Flora of the Bismarck Archipelago for naturalists. Office of Forests, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. 638 pp. ISBN 9980-66-000-7.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.