Conocarpus erectus L., Combretaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk (based on second screen), score: 3 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Terminalia erecta (L.)Baill.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: button mangrove, buttonwood, sea mulberry

French: palétuvier

Spanish: boton, botoncillo, jelí, mangle boton, mangle negro, mangle prieto

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Shrubs or trees 3-8 m tall.  Leaves chartaceous or somewhat coriaceous and somewhat fleshy, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 2.5-9 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, more or less densely silky pubescent, especially on midrib or younger leaves.  Peduncles 2-10 (-15) mm long, bracts minute, tomentose; hypanthium tomentose; calyx lobes greenish white, triangular, ca. 1 mm long; stamens usually 10.  Fruit densely clustered into brownish subglobose heads 1-1.5 cm long, each one 3-3.5 mm long, recurved at apex and often with the persistent calyx."  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 547).

Habitat/ecology:  "Button mangrove is intolerant of shade. It is almost always open-grown or in codominant stands. It will tolerate competition by plants of similar size but will not grow under the canopy of taller trees. The species grows above the high tide line, along beaches and just landward of Laguncularia racemosa (L.) Gaertn. and other mangroves. The soils in these situations are usually sandy or marly but sometimes loamy or clayey. Button mangrove is particularly adaptable as an ornamental because it tolerates compacted soil, air pollution, poor drainage, and drought (Gilman and Watson 1993). It also tolerates salt water overwash from storm surges and heavy salt spray. The species grows, although much less commonly, on the lower floodplains of rivers and in upland forests. Herbarium samples have been collected at elevations of 745 m in Costa Rica (Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad 2002)"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

In Hawai‘i, "cultivated and sparingly naturalized in coastal areas" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 547).

Propagation:  Water-dispersed seed.

Native range:  "Native to Bermuda, both coasts of southern Florida, the Bahamas, the West Indies, both coasts of Mexico, Central America, South America (through Ecuador and Brazil), and the Galapagos Islands. It is also native to coastal areas of Tropical West Africa (Howard 1989, Little and Wadsworth 1964)"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).  Native to the coastal zone in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 78).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Fernandina Group	Fernandina Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Wolf Island	Wolf Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby (2012) (p. 58) Voucher cited: N. Friday BIED92 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (1997) (p. 10) Voucher cited: Lorence 7767 (PTBG) Naturalized locally.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 547) Sparingly naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 547) Sparingly naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 547) Sparingly naturalized.
Kiribati Phoenix Islands	Kanton Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Stoddart, D. R. (1994) (p. 17) Vouchers cited: Fosberg & Stoddart 54885 (US, HAW, K) (green form), Fosberg & Stoddart 54886 (US, HAW, K) (silvery form), Clapp P-71-35 (US) (silvery form), Clapp P-71-34 (US) (green form), Clapp P-71-33 (US) (silvery form), Clapp P-71-29 (US) (green form) Sparingly established
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island		Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2008) (p. 24) Not seen in this survey, probably eradicated.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
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)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Francis, John K., ed. (2009)
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)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	Francis, John K., ed. (2009)

Comments:  Also has a densely silky pubescent form (var. sericeus Griseb.), also introduced into Hawai‘i (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 547).

Additional information:
Information from the Purdue University NewCROP web site.
Fact sheet from "Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories: thamnic descriptions" (PDF format).

Additional online information about Conocarpus erectus is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Fosberg, F. R./Stoddart, D. R. 1994. Flora of the Phoenix Islands, central Pacific. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 393. 60 pp.

Francis, John K., ed. 2009. Wildland Shrubs of the United States and its Territories: Thamnic Descriptions General Technical Report IITF-WB-1 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry and Shrub Sciences Laboratory (online resource).

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim. 1997. New naturalized plant records for Kaua‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1996. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 49:9-13.

McMullen, C. K. 1999. Flowering plants of the Galápagos. Comstock Pub. Assoc., Ithaca, N.Y. 370 p.

Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby. 2012. New plant records from the Big Island for 2009. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:55-63.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd. 2008. Botanical survey of Midway Atoll. Prepared for: United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 27 pp. plus appendices.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. 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).

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