Hemigraphis reptans (G.Forst.) T.Anderson, Acanthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: red lily, waffle plant

Kwara‘ae: ba‘ekorara

Marshallese: utilõmjãn, wut lamjen

Other: kouamerzé

Habit:  herb

Description:  Similar to H. alternata except: "leaves oblong-elliptic to narrowly ovate, 4-15 cm long, 1.6-4.3 cm wide, moderately hispidulous, margins crenulate, base truncate, or rounded. Flowers subtended by spatulate bracts 15-25 mm long, on stalks 6-7 mm long; corolla white, ca. 10 mm long. Capsules narrowly ellipsoid, ca. 6-7 mm long" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 171-172).

"Perennial; stems short, sprawling to prostrate, the nodes rooting, not especially swollen; petioles 6-18 mm long; leaf blades 2-6 (10) cm long, 1.2-2.8 (6) cm wide, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, obtuse to truncate basally, rounded to obtuse apically, crenate, suffused with purple beneath; peduncles 1.4-4.2 cm long, naked, borne in leaf axils or terminal; flowers sessile, solitary or few, ikn axils of opposite, foliose, spatulate bracts; calyx cylindric, 7-8 mm long, the lobes separating and persistent in fruit, strigose; corolla 11-13 (15) mm long, white or whitish, suffused with purple within; capsules 6-7 mm long, elastically dehiscent, the two valves bearing prominent spinose retinacula along the axis of the placenta; glabrous below, antrorsely pubescent and on the subpersistent style." (Welsh, 1998; p. 21).

Habitat/ecology:  A lawn weed in Hawai‘i (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 171-172).

Propagation:  Seed but often by cuttings.

Native range:  "Native range unknown, but originally described from Aru Island off the coast of New Guinea" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 171-172). Fosberg et al. (1979; p. 257) list as native to Micronesia.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Kapingamarangi Atoll	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 21) Voucher cited: BRY 25954
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 171-172)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 171-172)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Meidell, J. Scott/Bartlett, R. T. (1999) (p. 7) East Maui. Vouchers cited: Flynn & Tully 2440 (BISH), Oppenheimer 320 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. (2002) (pp. 1-2) West Maui. Vouchers cited: Oppenheimer H109909 (BISH), Oppenheimer H80019 (PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. (2002) (p. 3) Voucher cited: S. Anderson s.n. (BISH 605522)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 171-172)
Kiribati Tungaru (Gilbert) Islands	Butaritari Atoll	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Ebon (Epoon) Atoll	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 30)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Jaluit (Jãlwõj) Atoll	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Jaluit (Jãlwõj) Atoll	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1962) (p. 35) Vouchers cited: Fosberg 39461 (US), Fosberg 41384 (US)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 30) Voucher cited: Whistler 11227
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Arno Atoll	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Arno Atoll		Anderson, Donald (1951) (p. iii) Vouchers cited: Anderson 3734, Anderson 3764
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Arno Atoll	introduced invasive	Vander Velde, Nancy/Vander Velde, Brian (2007) (p. 4) "Abundant to very abundant; dense areas covered by this low-lying plant, often around the bases of coconut trees; in most environments including the forests and less cultivated areas".
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced invasive cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 58) Adventive
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	native	Heine, Heino (1976) (pp. 31-32) Voucher cited: Däniker 2254, Deplance 61, acKee 5262
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Îles Ouvéa (Ouvea Atoll)	native	Heine, Heino (1976) (pp. 31-32) Voucher cited: Däniker 1990
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	native	Heine, Heino (1976) (pp. 31-32) Vouchers cited: Balansa 533, Baudouin 293, MacKee 19711, Mackee 22457, Pancher s.n., de Pompéry s.n., Védel s.n., Vieillard 548, Virot 764, Däniker 1656
Palau Palau (main island group)	Urukthapel Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Palau Rock Islands	Aulupse‘el Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 257)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. Field notes.)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Western Samoa Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 92)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 80)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island	introduced	Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 243) Cited: Moseley. Not seen by Yuncker and presence in doubt.

Additional information:  See also:  Hemigraphis alternata.

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

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

References:

Anderson, Donald. 1951. The plants of Arno Atoll, Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 7. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 4 pp. + 7 pp. appendix.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. 1962. Vascular plants recorded from Jaluit Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 92. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 39 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

Heine, Heino. 1976. Acanthacées, Bignoniacées, Boraginacées, Solanacées. Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Vol. 7, 212 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, Randal T. 2002. New plant records from the main Hawaiian Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:1-14.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Meidell, J. Scott/Bartlett, R. T. 1999. New plant records for Maui and Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1998. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 59:7-11.

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of Samoa on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 83 pp.

Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. 2002. New Hawaiian plant records for 2000. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 68:3-18.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Vander Velde, Nancy/Vander Velde, Brian. 2007. Arno plants [preliminary working listing of plant species]. Unpublished checklist, 13 pp.

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).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. 1999. Botanical survey of the United States of America Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Islands. Prepared for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the U. S. Army Environmental Center. 111 pp.

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