Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Spanish: hierba de la diuca, hierba de la vida

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Taprooted perennial, apparently rather short-lived, possibly sometimes blooming first or second year, often with stems of principal branches erect from decumbent or arcuate base; lowermost leaves oblanceolate, to 4.5 cm long and nearly 1 cm wide, often crowded, others usually progressively reduced; heads in 1 or usually several cymosely arranged tight glomerules, with somewhat tawny cast; involucre 5-6 mm high, loosely woolly at or toward base, otherwise glabrous and shining, its bracts hyaline, more or less sharply acute, in age finally radiately spreading; pappus bristles barbellate at the thickened base and tending to cohere by the intermeshed barbels, but falling separately or in small groups rather than in a definite ring"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; p. 338).

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

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Andean and coastal regions of Chile, Bolivia and Peru (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; p. 338).

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) Darwin Islands	Darwin Island	probably introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Fernandina Group	Fernandina Island	probably introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcan Alcedo	probably introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcan Darwin	probably introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcan Sierra Negra	probably introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	probably introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2008)

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

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2008. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.