Merremia umbellata (L.) H.Hallier, Convolvulaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: yellow merremia, yellow wood rose

Fijian: sovivi

Habit:  vine

Description:  (subsp. orientalis (Hallier f.) van Ooststr.): "Perennial, creeping, sprawling, or twining vine...;the stems with white latex and becoming woody; petioles 1.5-10 cm long; leaf blades entire, narrowly deltoid to broadly ovate, 4-12 (-16) cm long, truncate to cordate or hastate at base, usually long-acuminate; sepals broadly elliptic or oblong to orbicular, 5-10 mm long, subequal or the outer ones slightly the shorter; corolla hypocrateriform, 2-3 (-3.5) cm long, yellow (sometimes white or orange); fruit ovoid to conical, 10-12 mm long, the seeds dark brown, 5-6.5 mm long, densely pubescent" (Smith, 1991; pp. 48-49).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "cultivated and also occasionally naturalized in thickets and on edges of forest from near sea level to about 400 m" (Smith, 1991; pp. 48-49).  "Locally common near the airport on Tutuila" (Whistler, 1988; p. 15). In New Caledonia, "assez commun à l'état spontané aux alentours du village de Koné" (MacKee, 1994; p. 42). "Fort curieusement cette espèce n'a jamais été récoltée, avant 1958, en Nouvelle-Calédonie; il est pourtant absolument sûr qu'il ne s'agit pas d'une introduction récente. Se rencontre communément dans les terrains vagues, aux alentours des villages" (Heine, 1984; pp. 40, 42). Moist uplands in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 307).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Pantropical; the Old World population is now generally referred to as subsp. orientalis (Smith, 1991; pp. 48-49).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 15) Voucher cited: Wisner 88
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Aitutaki Atoll		Whistler, W. A. (1988) (p. 15) Voucher cited: Sykes 242
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Aitutaki Atoll		McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 228)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 48-49) ssp. orientalis. Voucher cited: DA 16997
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 48-49) ssp. orientalis. Vouchers cited: DA 18854, DA 10190, DA 10193
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island		University of California (2006) ssp. orientalis "Common roadside, often found with Wedelia trilobata".
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 87) Voucher cited: BRY 25735
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 87) Voucher cited: BRY 24892
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced	Wester, Lyndon (1992) (p. 136)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 563) Voucher cited: Corn s. n. (BISH) Escape from cultivation.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2000) (p. 11) Voucher cited: R. Heu & R. Hamasaki s.n. (BISH 658030, FAU, NY, US) Fully naturalized on windward O‘ahu.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 42) Vouchers cited: MacKee 6465, MacKee 15576, MacKee 31250
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1969) (voucher ID: BNM 296) Taxon name on voucher: Merremia umbellata

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 235)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 235)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 235)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 235)

Comments:  "Introduced into Fiji as an ornamental but becoming naturalized, as it is also in Samoa and the Society Islands" (Smith, 1991; pp. 48-49).

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

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

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

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1969. Voucher specimen #BNM296(Salsedo 151).

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

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

Heine, Heino. 1984. 13. Convolvulacées. In: Morat, Ph.. et H. S. MacKee. Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

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.

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2000. New Hawaiian plant records for 1999. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 63:9-16.

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

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

McMullen, C. K. 1999. Flowering plants of the Galápagos. Comstock Pub. Assoc., Ithaca, N.Y. 370 p.

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

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

Tassin, Jacques. 2005. Jacques Tassin (IAC-CIRAD), personal communication.

University of California. 2006. Moorea Digital Flora Project (online resource).

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.

Wester, Lyndon. 1992. Origin and distribution of adventive flowering plants in Hawai‘i. In: Stone, Charles P.; Smith, Clifford W. and Tunison, J. Timothy. Alien plant invasions in native ecosystems of Hawaii: Management and Research. University of Hawaii, Cooperative National Park Research Studies Unit, Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press. .

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.