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
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)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (pp. 3-4) cv. ‘Bettzichiana’. Planted for landscaping at the Capitol. Voucher: Lorence 9845 (BNM, PTBG)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (pp. 3-4) cv. ‘Bettzichiana’.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Malakal Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (pp. 3-4) cv. ‘Bettzichiana’.
Palau Rock Islands	Ngerchong Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 7) cv. ‘Bettzichiana’. Voucher: Lorence 9869 (BNM, PTBG)

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)

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).

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

References:

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

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

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. (In press).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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