Verbesina turbacensis Kunth, Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 5 (Go to the risk assessment)

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Herbaceous or shrubby plants or sometimes weak trees, commonly 1-5 m. high, the branches stout, densely puberulent or tomentulose, winged by the decurrent petiole bases; leaves alternate, on broadly winged petioles, broadly angulate-ovate to to almost rhombic in outline, shallowly or deeply pinnate-lobate or rarely, merely undulate or dentate, mostly 12-35 cm. long, the lobes obtuse or acute, very scabrous above, usually densely grayish puberulent to tomentulose or velutinous beneath; panicles rounded or flat-topped, mostly 15-30 cm. broad; heads numerous, radiate, pedicellate; involucres 2-3 mm. high, campanulate; phyllaries pale, linear to obovate-oblong, puberulent or pilosulous, ciliate, the outer ones obtuse or subacute, the inner ones acute, the innermost ones acuminate; ray flowers 8-10, the ligules white, 2-4 mm. long; achenes 2-2.5 mm. long, usually more or less strigillose, sometimes tuberculate, winged, pappus awns 2, 1-1.5 mm. long" (Nash, D.L. & Williams, 1976; 24(12)346-347).

Habitat/ecology:  In Guatemala (native), "damp or wet thickets or in thin forest, especially of pine and oak, sometimes in Liquidambar forest, often on steep banks or hillsides, near sea level to 1,800 m"  (Nash, D.L. & Williams, 1976; 24(12)346-347).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico through Central America and Colombia (GRIN).

Presence:

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)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	Nash, Dorothy L./Williams, Louis O. (1976) (pp. 24(12)346-347)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tabasco, Veracruz
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Nash, Dorothy L./Williams, Louis O. 1976. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part XII. Chicago Natural History Museum. 603 pp.

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