Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC., Rubiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Mitracarpus villosus (Sw.) Cham. & Schltdl. ex DC.; Spermacoce villosa Sw.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: gai lie guo

English: tropical girdlepod

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herbs; stems erect or spreading, 2-4 dm long, branched or unbranched, pubescent with sort, curly hairs and appressed hairs, also usually villous on the angles, outer epidermis exfoliating.  Leaves elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, 2-6 cm long, 0.5-1.5 (-2) cm wide, upper surface scabrid to glabrate, lower surface glabrous except puberulent along veins and usually scabrid near margins, apex acute, base cuneate, subsessile, stipules 1-3 mm long, with 6-9 (-15) setae 1-5 mm long, their margins ciliate, often tipped with colleters.  Flowers sessile or nearly so, in dense axillary clusters, stipule-derived bracteoles filamentous, 1-2 mm long; hypanthium 1-1.4 mm long; calyx lobes 4, 2 of them oblong-lanceolate, with hyaline margins, 1.3-2.3 (-3) mm long, the other 2 deltate-lanceolate, 0.5-1.5 mm long, pubescent in lower part and ciliate; corolla white, 2-3 mm long.  Capsules subglobose, ca. 1 mm long.  Seeds pale yellowish brown, ellipsoid-rectangular, compressed, 0.8-0.9 mm long, the dorsal face resembling a rectangle with a square portion removed from each corner, ventrally separated into 4 discrete areas by 4 impressed lines arising at the hilum"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1156).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "an occasional weed near sea level along roadsides, in pasture plots, and along beaches"  (Smith, 1988; pp. 375-376).  In Hawai‘i, "recently naturalized in disturbed mesic sites" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1156).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Neotropics (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1156).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Rota Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 65)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 65)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1988) (pp. 375-376) Vouchers cited: DA 10111, 11596, DA 15360
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 551)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 271) As Mitracarpum hirtum.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1156) Voucher cited: Wagner & Stemmermann 4631 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 31) East Maui. Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 010726-2 (BISH)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. Field notes.)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H./Oliver, R. L. (1993) (p. 90) Vouchers cited: Timberlake 3047 (US), Raulerson 5878 (US), Raulerson 5693 (US)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 64) Voucher: Lorence 9930 (PTBG, BNM)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2008) (voucher ID: PTBG 223) Taxon name on voucher: Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1998) (voucher ID: PTBG 28069) Taxon name on voucher: Mitracarpus hirtus (L.) DC.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 98)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Malakal Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 98)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Ngerkebesang Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar (2003) (p. 98)

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)	introduced invasive	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) Wastelands at highway sides; near sea level to 800 m. Hainan (Wanning), Hong Kong, Yunnan, Xinjiang.
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 67, 78)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 67, 78)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 61) Naturalised
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	introduced invasive	Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (pp. 67, 78)

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

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

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

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H./Oliver, R. L. 1993. Flora of Micronesia. Part 5. Bignoniaceae--Rubiaceae. Smithsonian Contrib. Bot. 81: 1-135.

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

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 2008. Voucher specimen #PTBG223(David H. Lorence 9930).

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

Smith, Albert C. 1988. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 4. 377 pp.

Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie. 2009. Report to the Republic of Palau: 2008 update on Invasive Plant Species. USDA Forest Service, Hilo, Hawai‘i. 227 pp.

Space, James C./Waterhouse, Barbara/Miles, Joel E./Tiobech, Joseph/Rengulbai, Kashgar. 2003. Report to the Republic of Palau on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 174 pp.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2003. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:23-34.

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

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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

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).

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).