Dysphania pumilio (R. Br.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Chenopodiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Chenopodium pumilio R. Br.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: clammy goosefoot, ridged goosefoot, small crumbweed

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Prostrate or ascending (elsewhere also ± erect) annual herb, 5-15 (elsewhere up to 80) cm long, much branched near base; stem and branches with glandular hairs.  Leaves distinctly petioled, ± narrowly rhombic to ovate, 0.5-1 x 0.2-0.4 (elsewhere up to 4 x 2) cm, with shortly acuminate apex and ± decurrent base, dentate or ± deeply lobed, hairy like branches especially on petiole and nerves.  Inflorescence of clusters of many flowers, not combining into distinct thyrses or panicles.  Tepals (4-) 5, acutely oblanceolate, about 1 mm long, joined in basal quarter, very concave (but not keeled), hairy, green, turning white and dry-membranous; stamens 1-2; ovary with short style and 2 filamentous stigmas.  Fruit enveloped in tepals but not concealed, whitish, glandless; seed compressed globose and keeled along half of circumference, horizontal, about 0.5 mm diameter, shiny dark brown"  (Henty, 1981; p. 23).

Habitat/ecology:  In Papua New Guinea, "reported as a weed from bare patches in grazed grassland at 150 m altitude"  (Henty, 1981; p. 23).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia (Henty, 1981; p. 23).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced invasive	Henty, E. E., ed. (1981) (p. 23) As Chenopodium pumilio.

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)	New South Wales	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 528) As Chenopodium pumilio "Cultivated ground, open waste places, sometimes coastal on dunes and similar sandy areas".

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

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

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

References:

Henty, E. E., ed. 1981. Handbooks of the flora of Papua New Guinea, vol. 2. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. 276 pp.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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

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.