Tetragonia tetragonoides (Pall.) Kuntze, Aizoaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: New Zealand spinach, warrigal cabbage

French: epinard, tétragone cornue

Spanish: espinaca

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Succulent, stout annual herbs; branches numerous, spreading or procumbent, 3-15 dm log.  Leaves deltate to rhombic-ovate, 2-12 cm long, 1.5-5 cm wide, pubescent with bladder-like hairs, margins entire to undulate, apex obtuse to acute, base truncate to cuneate, abruptly constricted to a winged petiole 1-1.5 cm long.  Flowers sometimes unisexual, 1 (2), axillary; sepals 4 (5), green externally, yellow within, spreading, 1.5-2.5 mm long; stamens 10-20, greenish yellow; ovary inferior, 3-8-celled, subsessile.  Fruit nut-like, fleshy when young, dry and indurate with age, turbinate, angled, ca. 10 mm long, the apex with 2-5 horn-like projections from which another flower or branchlet is occasionally produced.  Seeds usually 1 per cell, reniform, ca. 2 mm in diameter" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 178).

Habitat/ecology:  "In the wild, New Zealand spinach inhabits coastal sand dues and has become naturalized in similar habitats all over the world, including several of the larger Hawaiian islands"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 98).  In Hawai‘i, "cultivated and now established in scattered coastal sites" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 178).

Propagation:  Seed, spread by water.

Native range:  "New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, Japan and South America" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 178).

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)	native	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2008) (p. 47)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 178)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 178)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Meidell, J. Scott/Bartlett, R. T. (1999) (p. 7) West Maui. Vouchers cited: Oppenheimer 302 (BISH), Oppenheimer H99805 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 23) East Maui. Vouchers cited: Starr & Martz 010821-1 (BISH), Starr & Martz 010821-2 (BISH), Starr & Martz 010821-3 (BISH), Starr & Martz 020109-2 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2006) (pp. 31-32) Voucher cited: Starr & Starr 050517-13 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Nihoa Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 178)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 178) Voucher cited: Forbes 1406.O (BISH)
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands		Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Johnston Atoll	Johnston Island	introduced cultivated	Amerson, A. Binion, Jr./Shelton, Philip C. (1976) (p. 55)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim (2000) (p. 10) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 990510-5 (BISH)

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)	Australia (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	native	Allan, H. H. (1982) (p. 204)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Naturalisé (localement)"

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

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

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

References:

Allan, H. H. 1982. Flora of New Zealand, vol. I: Indigenous Tracheophyta - Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. .

Amerson, A. Binion, Jr./Shelton, Philip C. 1976. The natural history of Johnston Atoll. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 192. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 479 pp.

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

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

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. .

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Meidell, J. Scott/Bartlett, R. T. 1999. New plant records for Maui and Moloka‘i. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1998. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 59:7-11.

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.

Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim. 2000. New plant records from Midway Atoll for 1999. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 64:10-12.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2003. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:23-34.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2006. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004-2005. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 87:31-43.

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).