Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv., Brassicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: alyssum, sweet alyssum

French: alysse corbeille d'argent

Spanish: lágrimas de la virgen

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Short-lived perennial herbs; stems grayish green, ascending or some decumbent, covered with appressed, branched hairs.  Leaves linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 1-3 cm long, 0.1-0.4 cm wide.  Flowers small, fragrant; petals ca 3 mm long; staminal filaments with 2 unequally sized glands at base.  Silicles obovate to suborbicular, 2.5-3.5 mm long, sparsely pubescent.  Seeds 1 per cell, ellipsoid, compressed, 1-1.5 mm long" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 409-411).

Habitat/ecology:  On Kure and Midway Atolls, "naturalized principally in sandy areas"; in Hawai‘i, grown in gardens and sparingly naturalized (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 409-411). In New Caledonia, "cultivé dans les jardins; il pousse aussi en adventice" (Jonsell, 1997; p. 102).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Eurasia (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 409-411).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 19) "An escape from gardens, especially thriving in sandy soil". Voucher cited: L.A.S.J ohnson & A.N. Rodd 1211 (K, NSW)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 8) "An escape from gardens, especially thriving in sandy soil". Vouchers cited: P.S. Green 1437 (A), G. Uhe 1128 (K)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 708-709) Voucher cited: DA 12183
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 9) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer & S. Holt H30117 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kure Atoll	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 409-411)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 409-411)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 27) Voucher cited: D. Lorence 6679 (PTBG, US)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 411) Voucher cited: Neal s.n. (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. (1995) (pp. 17-18) Voucher cited: K. Ziegelbauer 20 (BISH)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 83)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 99) Not seen in this survey.
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 44) Voucher cited: MacKee 27263 Spontané
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 44) Vouchers cited: MacKee 28348, MacKee 30687, MacKee 36932 Spontané
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 76)
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced	St. John, H. (1987) (p. 35) Observed in 1934.
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Johnston Atoll	Johnston Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Amerson, A. Binion, Jr./Shelton, Philip C. (1976) (p. 55)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 409-411)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced cultivated	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 118)

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

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

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

References:

Amerson, A. Binion, Jr./Shelton, Philip C. 1976. The natural history of Johnston Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 192. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 479 pp.

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

Jonsell, B. 1997. Cruciferae. In: Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Depéndances. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Vol. 21.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Smith, Albert C. 1981. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 2. 810 pp.

St. John, H. 1987. An account of the flora of Pitcairn Island with new Pandanus species. Honolulu, 65 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R. 1995. Contributions to the Flora of Hawai‘i. IV. New Records and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 42:13-27.

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).

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.