Alternanthera ficoidea (L.) P. Beauv., Amaranthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Alternanthera tenella Colla; Gomphrena ficoidea L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: sanguinarea

Spanish: pata de paloma

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Herb.  Stems decumbent to erect, mostly 3-10 dm long, moderately branched, glabrous below, generally pilose above and in leaf-axils, trichomes simple or minutely barbed near the base, internodes mostly 5-10 cm long.  Leaves oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, acute and mucronate at apex, attenuate at base and narrowed along poorly defined petiole, subglabrous to pilose, mostly 2-6 cm long an d0.6-2.0 cm wide.  Flower heads axillary, sessile, subglobose to short-cylindric, 5-10 mm long, 5-7 mm wide.  Bract and bracteoles subequal in length, 3.0-3.5 mm long, scarious, with midrib excurrent in a sharp point, ca 4/5 as long as tepals, pilose; bract ovate, bracteoles narrowly ovate and boat-shaped. Tepals 5, outer tepals 3.5-4.5 mm long, acuminate and sharp-tipped, richly pilose with scaberulous trichomes, becoming tough and hardened in fruit with 3 prominent raised ribs; two innermost tepals keeled and narrowly boat-shaped, up to 1 mm shorter than outer ones.  Staminal tube ca 3 mm long, cleft to 3/4 or more of its length; stamens 5, filaments ca 2 mm long, strap-shaped, progressively wider below, anthers ca 1 mm long, oblong, 5 times or more as long as wide; pseudostaminodia equaling or exceeding stamens, ligulate, laciniate.  Ovary roundly obtriangular, style distinct, ca 0.3 mm long" (Elaisson, 1987; pp. 78-79).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Common and widespread species in the tropics of the New World and has spread to warm areas in some parts of the Old World" (Elaisson, 1987; pp. 78-79).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Rota Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1966) (voucher ID: PTBG 26433) Taxon name on voucher: Alternanthera tenella
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) As Alternanthera tenella
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Kosrae Island	Kosrae Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy (2010) (p. 12) As Alternanthera tenella Colla
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 98)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 61) As Alternanthera tenella Colla
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Mili (Mile) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy/Vander Velde, Brian (2010) (p. A8) As Alternanthera tenella Colla. Uncommon; few patches planted as groundcover by private homes.
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 84) var. bettzickiana (Reg.) Backer
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (pp. 3-4) cv. ‘Bettzickiana’. Planted for landscaping at the Capitol. Voucher: Lorence 9845 (PTBG, BNM, NY)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2008) (voucher ID: PTBG 138) Taxon name on voucher: Alternanthera tenella
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (pp. 3-4) cv. ‘Bettzickiana’.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Malakal Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (pp. 3-4) cv. ‘Bettzickiana’.
Palau Rock Islands	Ngerchong Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 7) cv. ‘Bettzickiana’. Voucher: Lorence 9869 (PTBG, BNM, BISH, NY, US)
Palau Rock Islands	Ngerchong Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2008) (voucher ID: PTBG 162) Taxon name on voucher: Alternanthera tenella 'Bettzickiana'
Palau Rock Islands	Ngerchong Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2008) (voucher ID: PTBG 159) Taxon name on voucher: Alternanthera tenella Colla
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 131) Common in low lands, especially within the influence of brackish water.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, Barbara (year unknown)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 182)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 12) Cultivated only

Comments:  A minor weed in northern Queensland (Barbara Waterhouse, pers. com.)

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Eliasson, Uno. 1987. Amaranthaceae [44.]. Flora of Ecuador 28. 138 pp.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy. 2010. Checklist of the plants of Kosrae. Unpublished checklist. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 26 pp.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 2 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 530 pp.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 2008. Voucher specimen #PTBG162(David H. Lorence 9869).

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 2008. Voucher specimen #PTBG138(David H. Lorence 9845).

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 2008. Voucher specimen #PTBG159(David H. Lorence 9869).

Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie. 2009. Report to the Republic of Palau: 2008 update on Invasive Plant Species. USDA Forest Service, Hilo, Hawai‘i. 227 pp.

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

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

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Vander Velde, Nancy/Vander Velde, Brian. 2010. Survey of Invasive Plant Species and Other Plants of Mili Atoll, Marshall Islands. USDA Forest Resource Management Grant Program. Unpublished report. 6 pp, plus tabulation of plants of Mili Atoll, 23 pp.

Waterhouse, Barbara. 0. Barbara Waterhouse, pers. com.

Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. 1999. Botanical survey of the United States of America Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Islands. Prepared for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the U. S. Army Environmental Center. 111 pp.