Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: purple scalystem

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Acaulescent, or if caulescent the leaves crowded at tips of glabrous or sparingly pilosulous stems to 60 cm long; leaf blades ovate to oblong or obovate, rarely linear-lanceolate, 1-18 cm long, 0.5-6 cm wide, blunt or subacute at apex, narrowed at base to a slender winged petiole, both surfaces appressed-pilose or glabrate, margins undulate; scapes numerous, axillary, 1-24 cm long, simple or branched (sometimes leafy at tip), covered by tightly appressed ovate to subulate scales; spikes 1 to several, to 6 cm long; bracts oblong or elliptic; 3-6 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, firm, awn-tipped and bearing a pair of triangular or rhombic hyaline teeth near apex; bractlets 3 mm long; calyx segments thin, the upper bidentate; corolla blue to lavender-purple, 5-8 mm long; capsule oblong, glabrous"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; p. 264).

Habitat/ecology:  "Usually growing on bushy slopes, in thickets, and in shrubby forests at low elevations" (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; p. 264).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southern USA, Mexico, Central and South America (GRIN)

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) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Observed in survey, no herbarium record.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 468) In open waste places, dry thickets, etc., in and about towns at low altitudes.

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)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	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)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Probably not native to the Galápagos Islands, possibly introduced, per Charles Darwin Research Station.

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

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

Taxonomic information about Elytraria imbricata 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.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 3 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 628 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.

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