Cotula australis (Sieber ex Spreng.) Hook.f., Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Australian brass buttons, bachelor's button, carrotweed, common cotula

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Delicate annual herbs 0.3-2 dm tall; stems branched from base, sparsely pubescent with spreading hairs.  Leaves 1-3 cm long, 1-2 times pinnately lobed, the lobes linear.  Heads ca. 5-7 mm in diameter; involucral bracts ca. 2 mm long, margins scarious; marginal florets without corollas, on long pedicels, inner florets with corollas, these functionally staminate, yellow, on short pedicels.  Outer achenes ca. 1.5 mm long, strongly compressed and with a whitish wing, the inner ones ca. 1.75 mm long, not winged"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 289, 1859).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "sparingly naturalized in relatively dry areas" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 289, 1859).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia

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	possibly native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 18) "Found in lowland areas, particularly where there is open soil". Vouchers cited: M.M.J. van Balgooy 1025 (K, NSW), P.S. Green 1613 (A), J. Pickard 2772 (NSW)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	probably native	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 8) "Found in lowland areas, particularly where there is open soil". Vouchers cited: P. Ralston 57 (A), P.S. Green 1436 (A), W. Laing (CHR)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 289) Voucher cited: Fagerlund & Mitchell 517 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 23) Vouchers cited: T. Flynn & L. Mehrhoff 4441 (BISH, PTBG, US), D. Lorence & M. Lorence 6732 (F, MO, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 289) East Maui
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 6) West Maui. Oppenheimer H110039 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 289)
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. 34) Voucher cited: Däniker 40 (Z)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île des Pins (Isle of Pines)	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île des Pins (Isle of Pines)	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 34) Vouchers cited: Deplanche 226, Pancher 468, Montrouzier s.n.
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	native	Allan, H. H. (1982) (p. 168) "More or less common in lowland waste places".
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	native	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 87)

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)	Australia (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 101)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	probably introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 168) "More or less common in lowland waste places".
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

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

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

References:

Allan, H. H. 1982. Flora of New Zealand, vol. I: Indigenous Tracheophyta - Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. .

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.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

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

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

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

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1977. Kermadec Islands flora: an annotated checklist. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 219, Wellington. 216 pp.

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.