Chenopodium murale L., Chenopodiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Australian-spinach, nettle goosefoot, nettle-leaf goosefoot, nettle-leaved fat-hen, salt-green, sowbane

French: chenopode des murs

Hawaiian: ‘āheahea

Spanish: cardo russo, chual, hierba del gallinazo, quelite cenizo, quelito de coyote, quinguilla

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herbs; stems erect or ascending, 3-10 dm long, usually many-branched, mealy pubescent especially on young parts, rarely densely so.  Leaves variable, usually rhombic-ovate, 1.5-9 cm long, 0.8-5 (-7) cm wide, mealy pubescent at least on lower surface, margins with 5-15 coarse, more or less irregular, ascending teeth on each side.  Flowers in small, dense glomerules grouped into leafy, terminal and axillary, divaricately branched cymes up to ca. 5 cm long; calyx ca. 1 mm long, not completely enclosing the fruit at maturity, papillose and with a raised keel toward apex. Seed black, not especially shiny, horizontal, 1.2-1.5 mm in diameter, acutely keeled, the surface under high magnification marked with minute rounded pits."  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 538).

Habitat/ecology:  "Adapted to many ecological conditions but grows most vigorously in soils rich in nitrogen.  It grows from sea level to over 2000 m and in open and shaded sites.  When growing under favorable conditions, the plants are over 1 m tall before flowering" (Holm et al., 1997; p. 180).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in dry, disturbed habitats, 0-2,750 m.  In Tonga, "uncommon in disturbed places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 8). In New Caledonia, "espèce rudérale largement répandue sans être abondante; cultivée jadis etparfois employée à présent comme plante médicinale et pour éloigner la vermine du poulailler" (MacKee, 1994; p. 29).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mediterranean region to southwestern Asia (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 538).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced	Pickard, J. (1984) (p. 206)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 19) "A common weed of waste places". Vouchers cited: A.N. Rodd 1453 (K, NSW), L.A.S. Johnson & A.N. Rodd 1296 (K, NSW)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 8) "A common weed of waste places". Vouchers cited: P.S. Green 1450 (A); P.S. Green 1495 (A); 1902, J.H. Maiden & J.L. Boorman (NSW)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcan Sierra Negra	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lehua Island	introduced invasive	Wood, K. R./LeGrande, Maya (2006) (p. 22) Vouchers cited: Lorence et al. 7127 (BISH, PTBG, US), K.R. Wood et al. 11346 (BISH, PTBG, US), K.R. Wood et al. 9224 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Ni‘ihau Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538) Voucher cited: Mann & Brigham 80 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 29) Vouchers cited: Pancher 439, Barrau 47, Mme. Catala in Baumann 7305, MacKee 11850
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 14) Vouchers cited: Ilolahia 139 (1958), Soakai 391, Soakai 813, Soakai 918 (1959)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Johnston Atoll	Johnston Island	introduced invasive	Amerson, A. Binion, Jr./Shelton, Philip C. (1976) (p. 54)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 538)

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)	New South Wales		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 83)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 527) "Widespread in waste places, roadsides, cultivated ground, open disturbed coastal areas, and sometimes in poor or depleted pasture".
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James (1997) (p. 178)

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

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

References:

Amerson, A. Binion, Jr./Shelton, Philip C. 1976. The natural history of Johnston Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 192. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 479 pp.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Holm, Leroy/Doll, Jerry/Holm, Eric/Pancho, Jaun/Herberger, James. 1997. World weeds: natural histories and distribution. John Wiley & Sons. 1129 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.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Pickard, J. 1984. Exotic plants on Lord Howe Island: Distribution in space and time, 1853-1981. J. of Biogeography 11:181-208.

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1992. Flora of Tonga [unpublished checklist]. 107 pp.

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.

Wood, K. R./LeGrande, Maya. 2006. An annotated checklist and new island records of flowering plants from Lehua Islet, Ni‘ihau, Hawai‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004-2005. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 87:19-29.