Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_spermacoce_ocymifolia
Spermacoce ocymifolia
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About Spermacoce ocymifolia
An erect-to-spreading perennial herb or subshrub with faintly four-ribbed stems and opposite narrow elliptic-to-lanceolate leaves. Bristle-bearing stipular sheaths surround dense axillary whorls of small white funnel flowers. Fruits split into two segments; narrow oblong seeds are dark reddish brown and finely pitted, with shallow transverse depressions. The 2024 Bishop Museum account reports established dense stands in disturbed and native wet vegetation on Kauaʻi. This supports monitoring occupied cover, recruits and adjacent native vegetation. It does not quantify vegetation loss, causal displacement or an island-wide effect size.
Kauaʻi evidence
Generated media is not occurrence evidence. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Spermacoce ocymifolia
- Other names
- Spermacoce ocymifolia
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-07
- Evidence limits
- Island-level public occurrence only. The source contains an inconsistent leaf-length unit; omit that measurement. Some specimens were misidentified as Spermacoce latifolia, which is not a true synonym. Do not replace finely pitted seeds with the papillose seeds of unidentified Spermacoce sp. A.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Shrub or subshrub; subshrub
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Occupied area and vegetation cover; Mature plants and new recruits; Reproductive plants and fruiting frequency. Proposed monitoring endpoints are not reported observations, measured effects or causal findings.
- Data gaps
- Current island extent and population trend · Measured local ecological effects
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- An erect-to-spreading perennial herb or subshrub with faintly four-ribbed stems and opposite narrow elliptic-to-lanceolate leaves. Bristle-bearing stipular sheaths surround dense axillary whorls of small white funnel flowers. Fruits split into two segments; narrow oblong seeds are dark reddish brown and finely pitted, with shallow transverse depressions. The 2024 Bishop Museum account reports established dense stands in disturbed and native wet vegetation on Kauaʻi. This supports monitoring occupied cover, recruits and adjacent native vegetation. It does not quantify vegetation loss, causal displacement or an island-wide effect size.