Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)

  [   PIER species lists  ]   [   PIER home  ]

Olyra latifolia
L., Poaceae
Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES


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:  "Carricillo is moderately intolerant to intermediate in tolerance to shade. It is widespread and relatively common in the understory of thin canopy forests, brushy forests, small openings, and edges of high forest. These are most often medium to late-secondary forests but can be primary forests and remnants. Carricillo grows on a wide variety of well-drained to somewhat poorly drained soils with pH's from near neutral to about 5.5 over sedimentary (including limestone), igneous, and metamorphic (including ultramafic) rocks. Elevation may vary from near sea level to 1,100 m in areas that receive from about 1000 to more than 3000 mm of mean annual precipitation (author's observation, Croat 1978, Shaka and others 1997, Stevens and others 2001)"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

Propagation:  Seed.  "Birds disperse the seeds (Burkill 1994, Judziewicz and others 1999)"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).

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
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Costa Rica (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
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 native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Ecuador (Republic of) (continental) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Perú (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

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

Control:  "Eradication can be done by grubbing out individual plants or probably by cutting and spraying the sprouts with glyphosate or other grass herbicides"  (Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories).


Need more info? Have questions? Comments? Information to contribute? Contact PIER! (pier@hear.org)

  [   PIER species lists  ]   [   PIER home  ]

This page was created on 17 JAN 2004 and was last updated on 5 DEC 2010.