Gouania polygama (Jacq.) Urb., Rhamnaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Gouania tomentosa Jacq.; Rhamnus polygama Jacq.

Common name(s): [more details]

Spanish: canillo, jaboncilla

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Mostly vinelike with slender branches, often climbing to 5 m or more; twigs and leaves densely (or leaves rarely sparsely) brown-tomentose with stiff, spreading, simple to few-rayed hairs; stipules lance-triangular, attenuate, 3-6 mm long, ciliolate, caducous, hirsute on outer surface, subglabrate within; petioles somewhat stoutish, 5-25 mm long, tomentose or hirtellous; leaf blades ovate to broadly elliptic, obtuse, rounded or truncate at base, short-acuminate apically, 5-12 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, dark green and sparsely to moderately pubescent above, brownish and more densely tomentose beneath, margins shallowly and coarsely crenate-serrate, tip of each tooth cartilaginous; veins 4-7 on each side, arcuately curved upward, prominulous; inflorescences terminal on branchlets and axillary to upper leaves, simple or paniculately branched, the branches slender, 6-15 cm long, mostly deciduous; calyx lobes triangular, about 1 mm long and wide, tomentose without, glabrous within; petals 1-1.4 mm long, cucullate, each partially enfolding a stamen; stamens inserted near margin of calyx tube, filaments dilated basally; disk 5-lobed, conspicuous, almost equaling calyx tube, its margin often 2- or 3-toothed at tip of each lobe; fruits about 5-8 mm long, 6-12 mm broad, each coccus bearing a thin wing 1-1.5 mm wide along its outer angle, outer surface inconspicuously reticulate-veined and sparsely puberulent to glabrate on the rounded back, pale brown; seeds obovoid-compressed, about 4 mm long, 3 mm wide, brown and shining, slightly rounded abaxially, low-carinate adaxially"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 735-737).

Habitat/ecology:  "In shrubby or openly forested areas" (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 735-737).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  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) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	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)
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)

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

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

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

Taxonomic information about Gouania polygama 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.

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

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