Corchorus aestuans L., Malvaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Corchorus acutangulus Lam.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chamorro: bilimbines chaka, tuban chaka

Chinese: tian ma

Habit:  herb

Description:  "A small herb or suffruticose plant with erect, sparingly branched stems to about 40 cm tall; leaves green, ovate, acute, serrate; flowers 1-3 in clusters, very shortly pedicellate, very small, leaf-opposed; sepals 5; petals 5, yellow, 2-3 mm long; capsule hexagonal-cylindric" (Stone, 1970; pp. 401-402).

Habitat/ecology:  A weed of waste ground (Stone, 1970; pp. 401-402).  In Papua New Guinea, "a plant of roadsides (and little-used roads), waste land, and grazed grassland, often on sandy or gravelly soil"  (Henty & Pritchard, 1975; p. 154).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Paleotropical weed (Stone, 1970; pp. 401-402). Probably neotropics (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Fais Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 157)
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Fais Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Evans, M. (1969) (p. 9) Voucher cited: Fosberg 46671 (US)
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Ulithi Atoll	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 157)
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Ulithi Atoll		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1965) (voucher ID: PTBG 24292) Taxon name on voucher: Corchorus aestuans
Federated States of Micronesia Yap Islands	Yap (Waqab) Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 157)
French Polynesia Clipperton Island	Clipperton (Arue, Avera) Island	introduced invasive	Sachet, M.-H. (1962)
French Polynesia Clipperton Island	Clipperton (Arue, Avera) Island		Sachet, M.-H. (1962) (p. 93)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 146)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Naturalisée
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (pp. 401-402)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 157)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1982) (voucher ID: PTBG 23844) Taxon name on voucher: Corchorus aestuans
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 157)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	invasive	Henty, E. E./Pritchard, G. H. (1975) (p. 154) At low levels, widespread but not common.
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 98)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Guadalcanal Island	introduced invasive	Orapa, Warea (2005) Along roadsides between Honiara and Aruliho area.
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Malaita Island	introduced invasive	Orapa, Warea (2005)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Widely cultivated.
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 97)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 98)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 28) Naturalised
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Widely cultivated.
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 98)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 98)

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	native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1993) (p. 19)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. Arthur (1996) (p. 30)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1995) (voucher ID: PTBG 38065) Taxon name on voucher: Corchorus aestuans L.
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 138)

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

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

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

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

Fosberg, F. R./Evans, M. 1969. A collection of plants from Fais, Caroline Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 133. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 15 pp.

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

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. 1983. List of the recorded vascular flora of Agalega. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Henty, E. E./Pritchard, G. H. 1975. Weeds of New Guinea and their control. 2nd edition. Department of Forests, Division of Botany, Botany Bull. No. 7. Lae, Papua New Guinea. 180 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.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1995. Voucher specimen #PTBG38065(Art Whistler 9867).

Orapa, Warea. 2005. Warea Orapa, Weed Mangement Officer, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, pers. com. (Trip Report, Solomon Islands, 19 April to 10 May, 2005).

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

Sachet, M.-H. 1962. Flora and vegetation of Clipperton Island. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 4th ser., v.31, no.10. The Academy, San Francisco. .

Sachet, M.-H. 1962. Geography and land ecology of Clipperton Island. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 86. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 115 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Whistler, W. Arthur. 1996. Botanical survey of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. Isle Botanica. 49 pp.

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).