Teucrium vesicarium Mill., Lamiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Teucrium inflatum Sw.

Common name(s): [more details]

Niuean: hogohogo

Other: daboaghavat, meko boayui, pouhim

Spanish: laurel

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Perennial herb to 1 m high, the branchlets pubescent with curled hairs or hirsute with spreading and often glandular hairs; leaves petiolate, the petioles slender, 10-40 mm long, the blades ovate to oblong-ovate, membranaceous, 4-12 x 2-6 cm, rounded to subtruncate or shallowly cordate at base, acute to acuminate at apex, crenate-serrate (sometimes coarsely so) at margin, hirtellous to glabrate above, soft-pubescent with curled hairs, or sometimes also with longer, straight hairs on nerves, or glabrous beneath; verticils arranged in dense terminal spikes seldom more than 20 cm long, the flowers sessile or with pedicels to 1 mm long, the bracts inconspicuous, lanceolate to linear, shorter than calyces; calyx weakly bilabiate, 4-8 mm long, densely pubescent, the tube inflated and subsaccate at maturity, the upper lip 2-toothed, the lower lip 3-toothed, the teeth deltoid; corolla 9-13 mm long, the tube 4-6 mm long, pubescent; stamens exserted, the filaments pubescent toward base, the anthers about 0.5 mm long; nutlets glabrous, rugose-reticulate, 2-2.5 mm long"  (Smith, 1991; pp. 219-220).

Habitat/ecology:  "In moist woods and shaded hillsides, around margins of ponds, and in swampy areas" (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 411-412). In Fiji, "sparingly collected near sea level, but possibly it is no longer present" (Smith, 1991; pp. 219-220).  In New Caledonia, "mauvaise herbe américaine arrivée depuis longtemps en certaines îles du Pacifique Sud, étant signalée a Tonga par Forster (1786), mais non récoltée paraît-il en Nouvelle-Calédonie avant 1850" (MacKee, 1994; p. 71). "Possibly now extinct in Western Polynesia" (Whistler, 1988; p. 21). Moist uplands in the Galápagos Islands (McMullen, 1999; p. 273).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical America (Smith, 1991; pp. 219-220).  "An aboriginal introduction to Western Polynesia, not collected there since 1940." Herbarium records exist from Samoa (1905), Tonga (1773), Niue (1940) and Wallis and Futuna (ca. 1862). (Whistler, 1988; p. 21).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Taveuni Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 219-220) Voucher cited: Seemann 360 Perhaps no longer present.
New Caledonia Îles Bélep (Belep Islands)	Île Art	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (pp. 70-71) Voucher cited: Montrouzier 188 (LY)
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Îles Loyauté (Loyalty Islands)	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (pp. 70-71) Voucher cited: Deplanche 1097
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Maré	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (pp. 70-71) Voucher cited: Däniker 2681
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (pp. 70-71) Vouchers cited: Home s.n. (BM), Vieillard 1097, MacKee 5497, MacKee 9973, Gaillard 1, Gaillard in MacKee 26920, Bourret 103 (NOU)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île des Pins (Isle of Pines)	introduced invasive	Tassin, Jacques (2005)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île des Pins (Isle of Pines)	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (pp. 70-71) Vouchers cited: Germain s.n., Virot 958
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Yuncker, T. G. (1943) (p. 103) Voucher cited: Yuncker 10075 (BISH). Not seen in 1965 per Sykes (1970). "Occasional along roadsides".
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 39) Vouchers cited: Forster s.n., Graeffe 1483
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 234) Cited: Forster, Graeffe.
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 39) Vouchers cited: Harvey s.n., Crosby 137
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island		Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 234) Cited: Barclay, Crosby.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America Central America (Pacific rim)	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	probably native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Teucrium vesicarium, please let us know.