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]

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 (BNM, PTBG)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Harvard University (2007)

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 (2008)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland		Australian Biological Resources Study (2008)
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)		Harvard University (2007)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Harvard University (2007)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)		Harvard University (2007)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Harvard University (2007)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)		Harvard University (2007)

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).

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

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2008. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Harvard University. 2007. Flora of China (online resource).

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. Government. 2009. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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