Polycarpon tetraphyllum (L.) L., Caryophyllaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Mollugo tetraphylla L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: allseed, four-leaf allseed, four-leaved allseed, fourleaf manyseed

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual, erect, spreading or decumbent. Stems much branched, 5-15 cm long. Leaves opposite, or upper ones especially in whorls of 4; stipules deltoid, 1.5-3 mm long, scarious, white; lamina obovate to suborbicular, 0.4-1.5 cm long, rounded to subacute. Inflorescence a much branched cyme, lax or rather congested; bracts resembling stipules; pedicels short. Sepals unequal, c. 2-2.5 mm long, scarious on margin, strongly keeled, apiculate-hooded. Petals membranous, narrowly oblong, c. 1 mm long, emarginate. Stamens 3 (-5), c. 0.5 mm long. Ovary ovoid, 0.5-1 mm long; styles very short. Capsule ovoid, 1.5-2 mm long. Seeds curved, 0.4-0.5 mm long, pale brown, tuberculate"  (Flora of Australia online).

"Glabrous annual, rarely biennial or perennial, herbs; stems ascending to nearly prostrate, 4-10 cm long, many-branched.  Leaves oblong to obovate, 5-10 mm long, 2-6 mm wide, stipules narrowly lanceolate.  Sepals obovate to oblong, strongly keeled, 1.5-2 mm long; petals oblanceolate; stamens (1-) 3-5.  Capsules ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm long.  Seeds pale brown, translucent, somewhat angled, ca. 0.5 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 506).

Description from Flora of New Zealand online.

Habitat/ecology:  A widespread introduced weed of cultivated and wasteland (Flora of Australia online).  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in usually dry, disturbed sites, 0-2,860 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 506).  In New Zealand, "Gravelly or sandy sites, coastal and inland, riverbeds, roadsides, railway ballast, seashore, waste land, cultivated land, grassland"  (Webb et al., 1988; 489).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Europe, northern Africa, Middle East (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Rapa Nui (Easter) Island	Rapa Nui (Easter) Island (Isla de Pasqua)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 81) "Growing on rocks, abundant".
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Santa Clara	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 461, 465, 556) Voucher cited: Danton I(5/323)1670
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 506)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 506)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 506)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 506)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 506) Voucher cited: Faurie 1112 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 506)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 28) Voucher cited: Baumann 6048
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 489)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "A common weed of gardens and pastures".
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) "A common weed of gardens and pastures".
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Naturalized
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Naturalized
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Naturalized
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 181)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 489)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Naturalized
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

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

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.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

Skottsberg, Carl. 1953. The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Vol. II, Botany. Almqvist &l; Wiksells, Uppsala. 960 pp.

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

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

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).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.