Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Distreptus spiralis Less.

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Erect, perennial, stoloniferous herb, stems pilose to hirsute. Leaves cauline; petioles indistinct; blades oblanceolate to obovate, acute to obtuse at the apex, attenuate at the base, 3-7 (15) cm long, 1.2-3 (5) cm wide, margins crenate, hispid above, punctate and hispid beneath. Inflorescences racemose-spicate, bracteate, clusters of heads subsessile, 5-10 headed. Heads with 4 florets; phyllaries 8, similar, in 4 pairs, oblong-lanceolate, keeled, 7-8 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, pubescent above middle, tips acuminate. Corollas 6-7 mm long, whitish to blue-purple. Pappus of 4-6 bristles, uniseriate, 4-6 mm long, strongly twisted above the middle, dilated at the base. Achenes 2.5-3 mm long, ribbed, pubescent"  (Macbride, 1980; 5:68).

"Similar to P. spicatus in general aspect, but spreading by conspicuous, long, slender stolons; herbage and inflorescences often more conspicuously pubescent, with more numerous, longer, looser hairs; inflorescence tending to be more compact, not so prominently leafy-bracteate below, and with glomerules more confluent; involucre softer, 7-8 mm high; achenes 3-4 mm long, evidently glandular, otherwise glabrous or minutely hispidulous on ribs; pappus of several slender awns, the larger (or all) loosely spiraled, crisped, or curled in distal half, 3-5 mm long by straight measurement from base to tip, all much softer than the 2 principal awns of P. spicatus"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 352-353).

Habitat/ecology:  A common weed in much of tropical America and into the Lesser Antilles (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 352-353). Moist uplands in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 218).

Propagation:  Seed, stolons.

Native range:  Costa Rica, Panama, West Indies, western South America (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Caldwell Island, Floreana Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)

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. (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)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	Macbride, J. Francis (1980) (p. 5:68)

Comments:  Probably not native to the Galápagos Islands, possibly introduced, per Charles Darwin Research Station.

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Macbride, J. Francis. 1980. Flora of Peru. Field Museum of Natural History. Fieldiana Botany, New Series.

McMullen, C. K. 1999. Flowering plants of the Galápagos. Comstock Pub. Assoc., Ithaca, N.Y. 370 p.

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

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.