Ammannia baccifera L., Lythraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Ammannia aegyptiaca Willd.; Ammannia auriculata var. subsessilis Willd. Boiss.; Ammannia vescicatoria Roxb.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: shui xian cai

English: amania, monarch redstem

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plant 6.5-32 cm tall, rarely suffruticose. Leaves horizontal or drooping, obovate, obovate-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, acute or obtusish, base usually attenuate, sometimes cuneate or rounded, 1-47 mm long, 0.5-9 mm broad. Cymes ± sessile, glomerular. Flowers sessile or subsessile. Hypanthium 1-1.75 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm broad. Epicalyx obscure. Petals absent. Style c. 0-0.25 (-0.5) mm. Capsule slightly exceeding the hypanthium, 1.25-1.5(-2) mm in diameter"  (Flora of Pakistan).

"Herbs, annual, 10-50[-100] cm tall. Stem with numerous, ascending branches. Leaves opposite on basal stem portion, opposite or alternate toward stem apices, narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate to linear, 5-60 x 3-10 mm, base attenuate, truncate, or subcordate. Flowers 3 to many in dense axillary cymes; pedicels subsessile, to 1 mm; peduncle absent to 1 mm; bracteoles minute, not reaching floral tube. Floral tube campanulate, tapering at base, 1-2 mm; sepals 4, ca. 0.5 mm, deltate; epicalyx absent. Petals absent. Stamens 4. Style absent to 0.3 mm, much shorter than ovary. Capsules 1-2 mm in diam., 1/4-1/2 exserted"  (Flora of China).

Habitat/ecology:  "A very variable species of rice fields and other wet places in [Pakistan] up to 1200 m"  (Flora of Pakistan).  "Wet places, farmland"  (Flora of China).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  India (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Palau Palau (main island group)	Peleliu Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 8) Voucher cited: Lorence 9749 (PTBG, BISH, BNM, NY, TAMU, US)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Peleliu Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2008) (voucher ID: PTBG 41) Taxon name on voucher: Ammannia baccifera L.
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (pp. 135-136) In open damp waste places at low and medium altitudes, often abundant.

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)	Northern Territory		Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland		Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 158)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 13) Naturalised
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

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.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 3 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 628 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 #PTBG41(David H. Lorence 9749).

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.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).