Dalechampia scandens L., Euphorbiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: spurgecreeper

French: liane ortie, liane poilue, ortie rouge

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Slender vine, stems to 5 m long, usually twisted, hirsute. Leaves with petioles 6-7 cm long, hirsute; blades deeply 3-lobed, 5-7 x 6-12 cm, median lobe oblong to obovate, lateral lobes obliquely ovate, base deeply cordate, apices acute or acuminate, margin denticulate; stipules ovate to linear-lanceolate, 0.7-1 cm long. Inflorescences with peduncles 3-4 cm long; bracts greater than 2 x 2.5 cm, 3 or more cleft, lobes acute, white and green lined or all green; segments of pistillate calyx pectinate, setose, greater than 1 cm long in fruit. Capsules rounded, 4 mm in diameter, puberulent; seeds globose, 3 mm in diameter, gray or brown."

"Bractlike appendages within the inflorescences are usually densely covered with white stinging hairs. Similar stiff hairs are occasional on the stems, leaves, and bracts of the inflorescence" (Howard, 1989; p. 42).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, Central America, Greater Antilles, South America (Howard, 1989; p. 42).

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) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)

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

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

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

Taxonomic information about Dalechampia scandens 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.

Howard, Richard A. 1989. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 6 Dicotyledoneae-Part 3 Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 658 pp.

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

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.