Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir., Phyllanthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 12 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Kirganelia reticulata (Poir.) Baill.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: xiao guo ye xia zhu

English: potato-bush

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Shrubs to 4 m tall, monoecious; branches brownish; young branchlets, leaves, and pedicels yellowish pubescent or puberulent or glabrous. Stipules subulate-lanceolate, brown, 1-3 mm, hard and spiny when dry; petiole 2-5 mm; leaf blade varying in shape, mostly elliptic to ovate, 1-5(-6.5) x 0.7-3 cm, membranous to papery, base obtuse to rounded, apex acute or obtuse to rounded; lateral veins 5-7 pairs, usually prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence an axillary fascicle, rarely a cyme, with 2-10 male and 1 or 2 female flowers. Male flowers: pedicels delicate, 5-10 mm; sepals 5 or 6, in 2 series, ovate or obovate, unequal, 0.7-1.5 x 0.5-1.2 mm, entire; disk glands 5, scalelike, ca. 0.5 mm wide; stamens 5, erect, 3 with longer filaments coherent in a central column, 2 with shorter filaments, free; anthers triangular, longitudinally dehiscent. Female flowers: pedicels 4-8 mm, delicate; sepals 5 or 6, in 2 series, unequal, broadly ovate, 1-1.6 x 0.9-1.2 mm, puberulent inside at base; disk glands 5 or 6, oblong or obovate; ovary 4-12-celled, smooth; styles free, bifid at apex, lobes linear, revolute and connivent over top of ovary. Fruit a berry, globose to oblate, 4-6 mm wide, black and dark purplish at maturity, 4-12-celled, 8-16-seeded. Seeds trigonous, 1.6-2 mm, brown"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  "Frequently grows along watercourses, but also in scrub and hedges, on waste places, and in mixed evergreen forest.  It is found in India and Taiwan up to 2000 m altitude.  This species is often common in moist places"  (Agroforestree Database).  In China (native), "open forests, scrub; 200-800 m"  (Flora of China online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Africa; southern and southeastern Asia to Taiwan and the Philippines (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby (2012) (p. 67) Vouchers cited: J. Parker & R. Parsons BIED141 (BISH), A. Kawasaki s.n. (BISH #50402)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (year unknown) (voucher ID: BISH 50402) Taxon name on voucher: Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1989) (voucher ID: BISH 548241) Taxon name on voucher: Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir.
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 143997) Taxon name on voucher: Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir.
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 186) On grassland or in thickets.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Information from the AgroForestryTree Database.

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

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 0. Voucher specimen #BISH50402(Akira Kawasaki s.n.).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1929. Voucher specimen #BISH143997(Herre, A.W. 320).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1989. Voucher specimen #BISH548241(Flynn, Tim 3303).

International Center for Research in Agroforestry. 2008. AgroForestryTree database: a tree species reference and selection guide (online resource). World Agroforestry Centre.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby. 2012. New plant records from the Big Island for 2010-2011. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:65-74.

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

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).