Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Olyra paniculata Sw.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bambou tibi, carrycillo

Spanish: carricillo, carrucillo, carrycillo, cortadora, lambedora, lintentwa, sonadora

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Culms stout, mostly 3-5 m or more tall, the lower 1/2- 2/3 unbranched and with greatly reduced, bladeless or nearly bladeless leaves, the upper portion with spreading, often fascicled branches to 1 m long. Sheath with broad, auriculate apical margins. Blades glabrous, commonly 15-25 cm long and 3-6 cm broad, acuminate at apex, broad and asymmetrical below, abruptly contracted to a short, firm petiolelike base. Panicles 10-15 cm long and about 2/3 as broad at base, the stout primary branches each terminated by a single pistillate spikelet, the staminate spikelets borne on slender, appressed, often rebranched lateral branches. Pistillate spikelets with their long-attenuate and awned glumes mostly 2-3 cm long. Fruit smooth, shiny, white (rarely black), about 5 mm long" (Howard, 1979; pp. 37-39).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  Shaded forest sites (Howard, 1979; pp. 37-39).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southern Mexico and Central America to northern South America and throughout the Antilles (Howard, 1979; pp. 37-39). Whether or not it is native to the old world is open to question.

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Comments:  Reported invasive in Uganda (Rejmánek, 1996).

Additional information:
Fact sheet from the International Institute of Tropical Forestry.

Additional online information about Olyra latifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

Other Latin names:  Olyra paniculata Sw.

References:

Howard, Richard A. 1979. Flora of the Lesser Antilles: Leeward and Windward Islands. Vol. 3, Monocotyledoneae. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 586 pp.

Rejmánek, M. 1996. Species richness and resistance to invasions. In: Orians, G., R. Dirzo and J. H. Cushman (eds.). Biodiversity and ecosystem processes in tropical forests. Springer-Verlag. pp. 153-172.

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

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2009. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.