Sanchezia speciosa Leonard, Acanthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Sanchezia nobilis often misapplied; it is a separate species.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: sanchezia

French: sanchezia

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Shrub to 3 m high with four-angled stems.  Leaves simple, opposite, blade oblong to elliptic, 10-40 cm long, green or with yellow veins.  Flowers continuously through the year; flowers several, borne in clusters on an erect terminal spike sometimes divided at the base, with an ovate orange to red bract below each flower cluster.  Corolla of fused petals, tubular, 4.5-5.5 cm long with five short, rounded lobes, yellow to orange, bearing oblanceolate orange sepals half as long, two protruding stamens.  Fruit a narrowly cylindrical capsule, infrequently formed in cultivation"  (Whistler, 2000; pp. 408-409).

"Robust shrub 1-3 m high...; petioles stout, 1-4 cm long, winged nearly to base; leaf blades oblong, 10-45 x 5-15 cm, long-decurrent on petiole; bracts red to orange, greenish near base, ovate, 2.5-5.5 cm long; corolla rich yellow to orange, 4.5-5.5 cm long; stamens and style rich yellow"  (Smith, 1991; pp. 126-127).

"Grande herbacée ligneuse dressée, de 2 à 3 m de hauteur, reconnaissable à ses tiges carrées, ses grandes feuilles à nervures jaunâtres et ses inflorescences terminales portant des fleurs à long tube de couleur jaune-orange"  (Meyer, 2008; p. 38).

Habitat/ecology:  Forms thickets in moist areas.  In Fiji, "cultivated in gardens and also abundantly (but locally) naturalized along streams in dense forest at elevations from near sea level to about 200 m"  (Smith, 1991; pp. 126-127).

Propagation:  Vegetatively.

Native range:  "Likely originally from the wet forests of northern South America"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 92).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (Rapa Nui Island) Rapa Nui (Easter) Island	Rapa Nui (Easter) Island (Isla de Pasqua)	introduced invasive cultivated	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2008) (pp. 38-39, 43) "Nous avons observé quelques massifs denses à l’aéroport, dans les jardins du CONAF à Mataveri et dans le village de Hanga Roa" (Meyer, 2008; p. 39).
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 89) "Potential invader", lowlands.
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008) S. speciosa
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 15)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 126-127) Voucher cited: Bierhorst F186. Lorence et al. (1995) say that this species is Sanchezia speciosa Leonard
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 126-127) Vouchers cited: Smith 7131, DA 17229, DA 12103. Lorence et al. (1995) say that this species is Sanchezia speciosa Leonard
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1953) (voucher ID: BISH 127825) Taxon name on voucher: Sanchezia nobilis Hook. f.
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Ua Pou (Huapu, Uapou, Uapu) Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 94) "Potential invader".
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 23) Voucher cited: BRY 25459
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1982) (voucher ID: BISH 491670) Taxon name on voucher: Sanchezia nobilis Hook. f.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1856) Sanchezia speciosa Leonard
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 20) Sanchezia speciosa Leonard, voucher cited: D. Lorence 6430 (BISH, MO, PTBG, US). Escaped from cultivation and spreading vegetatively.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 20)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 68)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1929) (voucher ID: BISH 127826) Taxon name on voucher: Sanchezia nobilis Hook. f.
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Upolu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1980) (voucher ID: BISH 439225) Taxon name on voucher: Sanchezia nobilis Hook. f.
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	introduced cultivated	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 106)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009) Sanchezia nobilis Hook. f.

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

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

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

Other Latin names:  Sanchezia nobilis often misapplied; it is a separate species.

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1929. Voucher specimen #BISH 127826 (Christophersen, E. 76).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1953. Voucher specimen #BISH 127825 (Smith, A.C. 7131).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1980. Voucher specimen #BISH 439225 (Cox, P.A. 428).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1982. Voucher specimen #BISH 491670 (Florence, J. 2674).

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

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2008. Rapport de mission d'expertise a Rapa Nui du 02 au 11 Juin 2008: Plan d'action strategique pour lutter contre les plantes introduites envahissantes sur Rapa Nui (Île de pâques) [Strategic action plan to control invasive alien plants on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) [unpublished report]. Délégation à la Recherche, Ministère de l'Education, l'Enseignement supérieur et la Recherche, B.P. 20981 Papeete, Tahiti, Polynésie française. 62 pp. .

Neal, Marie C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication 50, Bishop Museum Press. 924 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 146 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of Samoa on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 83 pp.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2005. A tropical garden flora: plants cultivated in the Hawaiian Islands and other tropical places. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 908 pp.

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

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).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 2000. Tropical ornamentals: a guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 542 pp.