Glycine tabacina (Labill.) Benth., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: yan dou

English: glycine, variable glycine

Tongan: kihikihi lanumata

Habit:  herb

Description: 

Genus: "Procumbent or twining perennial herbs (one species erect and annual), the stipules small, deciduous; leaves pinnately  (or in some species digitately) trifoliolate, stipellate, the leaflet blades entire; inflorescences axillary, racemose, rarely terminal and paniculate or fasciculate, the bracts small, the flowers small, solitary at inflorescence nodes, the pedicels short, with subpersistent apical bracteoles; calyx subbilabiate, 5-lobed, the 2 upper lobes partially connate; petals long-clawed, glabrous, the standard suborbicular or obovate to rhomboid, slightly auriculate at base, the wings narrow, somewhat adherent to keel, the keel petals much shorter than wings; stamens 10, monadelphous or the vexillary filament at length becoming free, the anthers uniform; ovary subsessile, the ovules few-several, the style short, slightly incurved, glabrous, the stigma small, terminal, capitate; fruits linear or oblong, subcylindric or compressed, straight or falcate, thinly septate between seeds, dehiscent, the seeds ovoid-oblong to subglobose, the hilum short, lateral" (Smith, 1985; p. 229).

Species:  "Herbs perennial. Stems slender, procumbent, usually curved, many branched at base, nodes obvious, sparsely pubescent. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules lanceolate, ca. 2 mm, villous; petiole 2-3 cm, sparsely strigose; stipels linear, ca. 1 mm, hairy; leaflets at lower part of stem obovate or ovate to oblong, 0.7-1.2 x 0.4-0.8 cm, both surfaces adpressed white villous, denser abaxially, lateral veins 5-7 pairs, curved, reticulate veins visible, base rounded, apex obtusely rounded, truncate or slightly emarginate, mucronate; leaflets at upper part of stem ovate-lanceolate, narrowly elliptic-oblong, or linear, 1.2-3.2 cm x 5-8 mm. Raceme slender and spreading, 1-5.5 cm; peduncle 3-7.5 cm; bracts linear, villous; flowers sparse, usually 1 per bract or 2 or 3 clustered at lower part of rachis. Flowers 7-9 mm; pedicel ca. 2 mm; bracteoles slender. Calyx membranous, campanulate, densely strigose; lobes 5, triangular, longer than tube, upper 2 connate to middle. Corolla purple or light purple; standard orbicular, ca. 15 mm in diameter, with claw; wings and keels smaller, with auricles and claws. Ovary with short stipe, many ovuled. Legume oblong, straight, not constricted between seeds, 20-25 x ca. 2 mm, adpressed white villous, stipe short, apex with beak ca. 2 mm. Seeds 2-5, dark brown, cylindric, truncate at 2 ends, ca. 2.5 x 2 mm; testa not shiny, with granular small nodules"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "infrequently occurring near sea level and presumably in more or less open and dry habitats" (Smith, 1985; p. 229).  In Tonga, "occasional in lawns and waste places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 24).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Australia (diploid); the tetraploid form has spread north to southern China, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Islands and also eastward in the Pacific to Micronesia, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, Fiji, and Tonga.  Hymowitz...suggests that its occurrence in Niue and Samoa (Sykes, 1970; p. 155) results from accidental introductions" (Smith, 1985; p. 229).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 229) Voucher cited: Seemann 123 (K)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	native	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (p. 229) Voucher cited: Greenwood 769 (K)
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 155) Voucher cited: CHR 150554
Tonga Tongatapu Group	‘Eua Island		Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 147) As Galactia tenuiflora but probably this species. Voucher cited: Yuncker 15621
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 30) Vouchers cited: Soakai 32, Soakai 180, Soakai 686, Soakai 961
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 147) As Galactia tenuiflora but probably this species. Voucher cited: Yuncker 15061
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 30) Voucher cited: Crosby 36
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 145) Cited: Crosby.
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		Burkill, I. H. (1900) (p. 34)
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1997) (voucher ID: PTBG 27003) Taxon name on voucher: Glycine tabacina (Labill.) Benth. ex Seem.
Vanuatu New Hebrides Islands	Vanuatu (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	possibly native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Fujian, Guangdong
Japan Ryukyu Islands	Ryukyu Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)

Comments:  Indigenous all locations except perhaps Niue and Samoa (Smith, 1985, p. 229; Sykes, 1970, p. 155).

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

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

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

References:

Burkill, I. H. 1900. The flora of Vavau, one of the Tonga Islands, with a short account of its vegetation by Charles Steele Crosby. Lin. Jour. Bot. 35:20-65.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1997. Voucher specimen #PTBG27003 (K. R. Wood 6948).

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 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.

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1992. Flora of Tonga [unpublished checklist]. 107 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1959. Plants of Tonga. Bishop Museum Bull. 220. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 343 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).