Malachra capitata (L.) L., Malvaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chamorro: papago

English: malachra, yellow leafbract

Spanish: malva de caballo

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Mostly erect, coarse, annual or perennial herb 1-2 m tall, throughout densely whitish- or yellowish-tomentose with stellate hairs and usually also moderately to copiously hispid with simple or stellate hairs to 2 mm long; leaves long-petioled; stipules lanceolate, 5-15 mm long; blades orbicular to ovate, 2-10 cm long, palmately sinuate to 3-, 5-, or 7-lobed, lobes mostly obtuse, crenate to serrate, the base obtuse or truncate; flowers in axillary, pedunculate, bracteate heads, bracts 1-2 cm long, stipitate and subtended by paired, filiform bracteoles, conduplicate, suborbicular to ovate, obtuse or acute, entire or once or twice dentate, obtuse to cordate at base, prominently veined and whitish basocentrally; involucral bracts wanting; calyx tubular-campanulate, 4-8 mm long, 5-lobed to below middle, lobes ovate-lanceolate, white with brownish or reddish nerves; petals yellow, obovate, 10-15 mm long, slightly exceeding staminal column; mericarps 3-3.5 mm long, muticous, reddish veined, puberulent; seed obovoid-cuneate, about 2.5 mm long, black, whitish-pubescent about hilum"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 681-681).

Habitat/ecology:  In Guam, "weedy in old fields" (Stone, 1970; p. 413).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  New World tropics (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 681-681).

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)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 218-219)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 413) Vouchers cited: Stone 3902 (GUAM), G.E.S. 28
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 163)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 226)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 36) A common weed in open waste places.

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Florence, J. 2004. Flore de la Polynésie française, Vol. 2. Paris. IRE Editions, Publications Scientifiques, Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 41. 503 pp.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

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

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 3 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 628 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.