Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: tou xu bai rong cao

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Stout annual herb to 1 m high, the branchlets scaberulous with spreading hairs; leaves petiolate, the petioles to 15 mm long, the blades membranaceous, 5-10 x 2-4 cm, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, subacute at apex, crenate-serrate at margin, more or less pubescent on both surfaces; flowering verticils often large, to 5 cm broad, terminal, globose, surrounded by imbricate, membranaceous bracts, these elliptic- to linear-lanceolate, 8-15 x 2-5 mm, awned at apex, ciliate at margin; calyx tubular, about 2 cm long, the tube slightly curved, membranaceous, usually soft-pubescent, the mouth oblique, long-pubescent, the teeth short-subulate, subequal, 1-2 mm long, scabrid; corolla 20-30 mm long, the tube to 20 mm long, the upper lip to 5 mm long, villose, the lower lip about twice as long as upper lip, the median lobe spreading, subtruncate; nutlets 2-3 mm long, obovoid-oblong, rounded at apex, smooth, brown"  (Smith, 1991; pp. 235, 237).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "reported to be rather common locally in wet places and at times on cultivated land near sea level" (Smith, 1991; pp. 235, 237).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Afghanistan to eastern India and Bangladesh, found elsewhere as a naturalized or possibly cultivated plant" (Smith, 1991; pp. 235, 237).

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	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 235, 237) Vouchers cited: Greenwood 658, greenwood 658A

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Open areas; ca. 1700 m. Xizang

Comments:  Reported invasive in Myanmar (Waterhouse, 1993; p. 141).

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

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

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

References:

Smith, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

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

Waterhouse, D. F. 1993. The major arthropod pests and weeds of agriculture in Southeast Asia. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra. 141 pp.

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