Malachra alceifolia Jacq., Malvaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bastard okra, malachra, wild okra

Spanish: malva de caballo, quesillo, quiaborana

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Stiffly branched, erect herbs or subshrubs 0.5-2.5 m tall; stems glabrate or stellate pubescent, often hispid with simple hairs.  Leaf blades ovate to transverse-elliptic in outline, up to 10 (-15) cm long, unlobed or shallowly 3-5-lobed, base truncate, petioles usually 1/2 or more the length of blades, stipules up to 2 cm long, sometimes bifurcate or divided into as many as 4 segments.  Flowers in sessile or short-pedunculate heads, subtended and at least partly enclosed by whitish, green-veined, ovate to triangular, cordate, folded bracts 1-2.5 cm long; calyx white with reddish veins, tubular-campanulate, 0.5-0.8 cm long; petals pale to dark yellow, 1-2 cm long, nearly equaling the yellow staminal column, styles, and stigmas.  Mericarps 5, muticous, papery, 3-3.5 mm long, reddish-veined, glabrous or puberulent.  Seeds black, ca. 2.5 mm long, glabrous"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 891).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in disturbed places at low elevations" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 891).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, the West Indies, Central America and northern South America; naturalized elsewhere (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) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 217-217)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Adventice
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 891)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 891)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 891) Voucher cited: Kawahara s.n.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)