Bacopa procumbens (Mill.) Greenm., Plantaginaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Mecardonia procumbens (Mill.) Small

Common name(s): [more details]

English: baby jump-up, waterhyssop

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants annual or perennial, glabrous, branched from the base, prostrate to suberect, the stems mostly 30 cm log or less; leaves short-petiolate, ovate or oval, mostly 8-15 mm long, rounded to acute at the apex, acute at the base, serrate, usually blackening when dried; pedicels slender, mostly longer than the leaves; sepals green, the outer ones in age 8-10 mm long, ovate, subacute, obtuse at the base, glabrous; corolla bright yellow, about 1 cm long; capsule oblong, 6-10 mm long" (Standley & Williams, 1973; p. 333).

"Suberect herbs...; stems quadrangular, glabrous; leaves elliptic or shortly ovate-elliptic, crenulate-serrulate, 1-2.5 cm long, 6-12 mm wide; calyx without basal bracteoles; pedicels 4-6 mm long at anthesis, elongating in fruit to 18 mm; corolla yellow, slightly longer than calyx, capsule 2-valved" (Stone, 1970; p. 523).

Habitat/ecology:  A weed of wet or brackish localities (Stone, 1970; p. 523). In New Guinea, "a plant of disturbed land and heavily-grazed grassland, and a weed of cultivation and lawns" (Henty & Pritchard, 1975; p. 146).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical America

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	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 248)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 248)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Tinian Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 61)
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Namoluk (Nómwunuuk) Atoll		Marshall, Mae/Fosberg, F. R. (1975) (p. 46) Voucher cited: Marshall 104 (US)
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Puluwat (Pwonowót) Atoll	introduced invasive	Manner, H. I./Mallon, E. (1989) (p. 58) Voucher cited: Manner & Mallon 276 (GUAM)
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Weno (Moen) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 248)
Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Islands	Weno (Moen) Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1975) (p. 84) Voucher cited: Rainey 39 (Fo)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 248)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Glassman, S. F. (1952) (p. 101) Voucher cited: Glassman 2555 (US)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced invasive	Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. (2010) (p. 136) As Mecardonia procumbens (Mill.) Pennell. Vouchers cited: F.R. Fosberg 58434 (BISH), S.F. Glassman 2555 (BISH), B.C. Stone 5459 (BISH) Naturalized
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1975) (p. 84) VoucherS cited: Glassman 2555 (US, BISH), Stone 1960 (UG)
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Yap (Waqab) Island		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 88)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 523) Voucher cited: Stone 4674 (GUAM)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 248)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced invasive	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 195) Voucher cited: Fosberg 58813 (US)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		Raulerson, L./Rinehart, A. F./Falanruw, M. C. (1996) (p. 35)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1979) (voucher ID: BNM 10180) Taxon name on voucher: Bacopa procumbens (Mill.) Greenm.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Peleliu Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Canfield, Joan E. (1980) (pp. 197-198) Voucher cited: Canfield 421 (US)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Peleliu Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1978) (voucher ID: BNM 1394) Taxon name on voucher: Bacopa procumbens (Mill.) Greenm.
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced invasive	Henty, E. E./Pritchard, G. H. (1975) (p. 146) At low altitudes, Morobe District.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 43)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 188)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1978. Voucher specimen #BNM1394(Canfield, J.E. 421).

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1979. Voucher specimen #BNM10180(Otobed, D.O. PW-10180).

Fosberg, F. R./Canfield, Joan E. 1980. Noteworthy Micronesian plants 3. Micronesica 16(2):189-200.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. 1975. Noteworthy Micronesian plants 2. Micronesica 11(1):81-84.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Glassman, S. F. 1952. The flora of Ponape. Bishop Mus. Bull. 209: 1-152.

Henty, E. E./Pritchard, G. H. 1975. Weeds of New Guinea and their control. 2nd edition. Department of Forests, Division of Botany, Botany Bull. No. 7. Lae, Papua New Guinea. 180 pp.

Herrera, Katherine/Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy/Balick, Michael J. 2010. Checklist of the vascular plants of Pohnpei with local names and uses. Allertonia, in press. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 146 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Manner, H. I./Mallon, E. 1989. An Annotated list of the vascular plants of Pulawat Atoll. Micronesica 22:23-63.

Marshall, Mae/Fosberg, F. R. 1975. The natural history of Namoluk Atoll, eastern Caroline Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 189. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 53 pp + photos.

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.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

Raulerson, L./Rinehart, A. F./Falanruw, M. C. 1996. A botanical reconnaissance of the proposed Compact-impact road alignment on Babeldaob Island, Republic of Palau. U. of Guam Herbarium Cont. No. 32. 78 pp.

Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis O. 1973. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part IX, Nos. 3-4. Chicago Natural History Museum. 207 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 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.