Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Atylosia scarabaeoides (L.) Benth.; Cantharospermum scarabaeoides (L.) Baill.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: man cao chong dou

English: peanut grass, tropical clover

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Vines, woody, twining or trailing, to 2 m. Stems slender, ± pubescent. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules small, ovate, hairy, usually deciduous; petiole 1-2 cm; stipels absent; petiolules extremely short; leaflets papery or nearly leathery, with glandular spots, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces, denser abaxially, basal veins 3, obviously convex below; terminal leaflet elliptic or obovate-elliptic to obovate, 1.2-4 x 0.8-1.5 (-3) cm, apex obtuse or rounded; lateral leaflets smaller, obliquely elliptic to obliquely obovate. Raceme axillary, usually less than 2 cm, 1-5-flowered; peduncle 2-5 mm, densely brown to dull brown villous. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed, or 4-lobed with upper 2 incompletely connate; lobes linear-lanceolate. Corolla yellow, ca. 1 cm, usually deciduous; standard obovate, with emarginate auricle and claw at base; wings narrowly elliptic, slightly curved, base auriculate; keels curved at apex, densely very pale brown villous. Ovules several. Legume oblong, 1.5-2.5 x 0.4-0.6 cm, leathery, densely villous, transversely constricted between seeds. Seeds 2-7, dark brown, ellipsoidal, ca. 4 mm; strophiole convex"  (Flora of China online).

"Perennial, prostrate or climbing, wiry-stemmed, pubescent vine with non-stipellate trifoliate leaves, the leaflets obovate with rounded tips, tomentose on both sides with soft hairs, grayish-green, up to 2.5 cm long and 1.2 cm wide, the lateral leaflets mostly symmetrical; flowers usually in groups of 2 in axils, about 6 mm long, reddish-orange; fruit a densely pubescent brownish pod, slightly constricted between the seeds, about 1-1.3 cm long and 6 mm wide, with 3-6 brown roundish seeds"  (Stone, 1970; p. 327).

Habitat/ecology:  A weed of open grasslands on Pacific islands (Stone, 1970; p. 327).  In Fiji, "forming thick mats, or climbing, at elevations from near sea level to 300 m as a locally common weed along roadsides, on sand dunes, and in open fields and pastures" (Smith, 1985; p. 253).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Madagascar eastward to tropical Asia (Stone, 1970; p. 327).

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	Alamagan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 103)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Guguan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 103)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Pagan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 103)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Rota Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 103)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 103)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Tinian Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 103)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 253) As Atylosia scarabaeoides. Vouchers cited: Greenwood 731, 731A, 731B, 731C; DA 10728; DA 10280; DA 5974, DA 9290 (McKee 2860), DA 7389 (L.3049), DA 10749
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 327)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 315) In open grasslands at low and medium altitudes.

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	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Fields, roadsides, grassy slopes, seasides; below 100-1500 m".
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 139)
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Fields, roadsides, grassy slopes, seasides; below 100-1500 m".
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Rodrigues Island	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

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

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 2 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 530 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 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.

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).