Basella alba L., Basellaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Basella cordifolia Lam.; Basella rubra L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, Malabar nightshade, Malabar spinach, vine spinach

French: baselle, brède d'Angola, épinard de Malabar

Hawaiian: ‘īnika

Japanese: tsuru-murasaki

Spanish: espinaca blanca, espinaca de Malabar

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Glabrous annual or shortly lived perennial, succulent tangled twiner; stems much branched, 2-10 m long, sometimes almost leafless, greenish or reddish.  Leaf-lamina ovate to suborbicular, (2-) 5-15 cm long, (1.25-) 5-13.5 cm broad, acute or acuminate (less commonly obtuse), usually widely cordate at the base; lateral nerves 4-5 on either side; petiole (1-) 2.5-6.5 cm long.  Flowers white, rose or purplish, (3-) 4-5 mm long, in long-peduncled spikes, 2.5-15 (-25) cm long, usually unbranched (in African specimens at least) but branched in some cultivated forms.  Perianth fleshy, urceolate, somewhat saccate at bhe base; lobes short, ovate, about one-third the length of the tube, not opening.  Fruits ± 0.5 cm in diameter (4-7 x 5-10) mm (according to van Steenis), red, white or black; surface crinkly in the dry state" (Verdcourt, 1968; p. 2).

Habitat/ecology:  In Africa, "in thickets, forest edges, margins of cultivated land and swampy ground, frequently by rivers or streams; 0 (cultivated)-2450 m" (Verdcourt, 1968; p. 2).

Propagation:  Seed and locally by underground rhizomes  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 173).

Native range:  "Pantropical, but perhaps naturalized in neotropics. (GRIN).  "Precise native range not know, but is presumed to be Africa or somewhere in Asia.  Today it is cultivated as a food plant throughout warm regions of the world"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 173).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Cook Islands	Cook Islands	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 48) Voucher cited: H.M. Smith 87
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J. (2004) (p. 86) Adventive.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Nagata, Kenneth M. (1995) (pp. 11-12) Voucher cited: Nagata 3948 (BISH, HLA) Naturalized
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (p. 103) Voucher cited: Thaman & Manner 138 (SUVA)
Palau Rock Islands	Ngeanges Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 62)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1864)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1993) (p. 17)

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

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

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

Other Latin names:  Basella cordifolia Lam.; Basella rubra L.

References:

Florence, J. 2004. Flore de la Polynésie française, Vol. 2. Paris. IRE Editions, Publications Scientifiques, Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 41. 503 pp.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Nagata, Kenneth M. 1995. New Hawaiian plant records IV. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:10-13.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1993. Flora of Australia. Vol. 50, Oceanic islands 2. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

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).

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 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. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Verdcourt, B. 1968. Basellaceae. In: Milne-Redhead, E., and R. M. Polhill. Flora of tropical east Africa. Crown Agents, London.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.