Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Heliocarpus americanus L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: broadleaf moho, high ridge moho, moho, mountain moho, white moho

Spanish: balsa pancho, llausa mora, majao, yarisa

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees 6-30 m tall; young branches puberulent to tomentose. Leaves ovate to cordate, 20-30 cm long, 14-18 cm wide, unlobed or shallowly 3-lobed, 5-7-nerved, minutely stellate pubescent, margins irregularly serrulate, apex acuminate, base truncate to cordate, petioles 6-8 cm long. Flowers perfect and pistillate, 12-20 usually in terminal cymes; perfect flowers with pedicels 2-4 mm long, sepals 4, lanceolate, 4-7 mm long, petals 4, narrowly spatulate, 3-4.5 mm long, stamens 12-24, ovary on a short gynophore, style 2-lobed; pistillate flowers with pedicels ca. 2 mm long, sepals 4, 4-5.5 mm long, petals rudimentary or absent, staminodes numerous, ovary on a short gynophore, style 2-lobed. Capsules ellipsoid to ellipsoid-ovoid, on a gynophore 5-10 mm long, the body 3-4 mm long, the plumose bristles 4-7 mm long, the faces with stellate hairs or very short plumose bristles. Seeds ovoid, ca. 2.5 mm long, depressed in the middle" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1292).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, naturalized in disturbed, dryer forests. "Grows rapidly and and spreads readily in disturbed wetter mesic forests"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

Propagation:  Wind-dispersed seed.

Native range:  Southern Mexico to northern Argentina.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1292)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1292)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank (2007) (p. 31) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H120644 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1292)

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)
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)

Additional information:
Excerpt from the book "Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide" (Motooka et al., 2003). (PDF format).

Additional online information about Heliocarpus popayanensis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

Motooka, Philip/Castro, Luisa/Nelson, Duane/Nagai, Guy/Ching, Lincoln. 2003. Weeds of Hawaii‘s Pastures and Natural Areas; An Identification and Management Guide. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa. 184 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank. 2007. New plant records from Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i for 2006. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:17-34.

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

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).