Conocarpus erectus L., Combretaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only 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

Spanish: boton, jelí, mangle boton, mangle boton

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:  In Hawai‘i, "cultivated and sparingly naturalized in coastal areas" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 547). Native to the coastal zone in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 78).

Propagation:  Water-dispersed seed.

Native range:  Coastal areas of the neotropics from Florida (US) and Mexico to Ecuador and Brazil, also in tropical western Africa.

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	Volcan Sierra Negra	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 Islands	Wolf Island	native	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
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

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. (2007)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

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.

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

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

References:

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.

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.

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).

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