Spermacoce verticillata L., Rubiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Borreria verticillata (L.) G. Mey.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: shrubby false-buttonweed

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants perennial, glabrous or nearly so, usually erect and simple or sparsely branched, often copiously branched from the base, usually 40 cm. high or less, the stems tetragonous; stipule sheath very short, the setae about 1.5 mm. long; leaves sessile or nearly so, linear or lance-linear, mostly 1.5-4 cm. long and 1.5-6 mm. broad, commonly 1-nerved, often with fascicles of smaller leaves in the axils; flower heads chiefly terminal but sometimes arising also from the upper leaf axils, the terminal heads subtended by 2 or 4 leaflike bracts; hypanthium pilose above, the 2 sepals narrowly triangular, 1.5 mm. long or less; corolla white, 3 mm. long, hispidulous outside at the apex, the lobes about equaling the tube; anthers exserted; capsule 2.5 mm. long; seeds brown"  (Standley & Williams, 1974; 24/11 pp. 22-23).

"Annual herb with straggling, rather flexuous stems, to ca. 60 cm high. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, glabrous, mostly less than 2.5 cm long. Flowers white, very small, borne in sessile clusters at the upper stem nodes. Fruit a small capsule. Seeds reddish-brown" (Sykes, 1970; p. 175).

Habitat/ecology:  In Guatemala (native), "a widely distributed and in many localities a common weedy plant, usually at low elevations but ascending to about 2,000 m., in thickets or savannas, meadows, or in waste or cultivated ground"  (Standley & Williams, 1974; 24/11 pp. 22-23).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Mexico; British Honduras to Panama; southward through most of South America; West Indies"  (Standley & Williams, 1974; 24/11 pp. 22-23).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Huahine Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) As Spermacoce verticillata C. Linnaeus. Voucher cited: J. Florence & R. Tahuaitu 11636 (PAP) Adventice
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: P. Morat 6384 (PAP) Adventice
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (1982) (voucher ID: PTBG 37188) Taxon name on voucher: Spermacoce verticillata
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 175) Voucher cited: CHR 170396
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands		Swarbrick, John T. (1997) (p. 89)

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)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis O. (1975)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis O. (1975)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis O. (1975)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 1982. Voucher specimen #PTBG37188(Jacques Florence 2444).

Standley, Paul C./Williams, Louis O. 1975. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part XI, Nos. 1-3. Chicago Natural History Museum. 274 pp.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

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