Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Scalesia helleri
Bonsai de Galápagos, lechoso, bonsai de Galápagos, heller's scalesia




A beautiful shrub with serrated, sticky and very fragrant leaves. Its adult form looks like a bonsai with a twisted trunk. The tree remains green even during the dry season.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Asterales
Family
Asteraceae
Genus
Scalesia
Species
helleri
Taxon category: Species with Infraspecific Taxa
Syn.: Scalesia helleri ssp. santacruziana Harling
Origin: Endemic
Distribution: A species restricted to Santa Cruz and Santa Fe islands and La Fe islet, the Santa Fe population is out of danger since the eradication of goats, but the Santa Cruz population is in decline due to reduced recruitment by feral goats.
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
- Adsersen, H. (1989) The Rare Plants of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador and their Conservation. Biol. Conservation 47(1): 49-77.
- Arsiniegas, M. (1996) Caracterización, evaluación y conservación de cuatro especies de plantas endémicas que se hallan en peligro de extinción en las islas Galápagos: Calandrinia galapagosa, Lecocarpus darwinii, Scalesia helleri, Scalesia retroflexa. Tesis de Ing. Forestal, Univ. Téc. "Luis Torres", Esmeraldas.
- Jørgensen, P.M. León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 1181 pp.
- McMullen, C.K. (1999) Flowering plants of the Galapagos. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 370 pp.
- Harling, G. (1962) On Some Compositae Endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Acta Horti Bergiani. 20(3): 63-119.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Valencia, R. Pitman, N., León-Yánez, S. & Jørgensen, P.M. (2000) Libro Rojo de las Plantas Endémicas del Ecuador. Herbario QCA, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Ecuador 2000 i–iv, 1–489.
- Linsley, E.G. Chemsak, J.A. (1966) Cerambycidae of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 4th ser., 33(8): 197-235.
- Atkinson, R. Guézou, A. & Jaramillo, P. (2009) Siémbrame en tu jardín - Plantas nativas para jardines en Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador, 151 pp.
- Howell, J.T. (1941) The genus Scalesia. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. Series 4, 22: 221-271.
- Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Bisconti, M. Landini, W., Bianucci, G., Cantalamessa, G., Carnevale, G. Ragaini, L. & Valleri, G. (2001) Biogeographic relationships of the Galapagos terrestrial biota: parsimony analyses of endemicity based on reptiles, land birds and Scalesia land plants. J. Biogeogr. 28: 495-510.
- Jaramillo, P. Trigo, M. M. (2006) Pollen morphology of the Galapagos endemic genus Scalesia Arn. (Asteraceae). Noticias de Galápagos 64: 26-30.
- McMullen, C.K. (1987) Biologia reproductiva de las Angiospermas de las Islas Galapágos. Pg. 39 - 52. Memorias: Taller sobre investigación Botànica y manejo en galapágos.
- León-Yánez, S. Valencia, R., N. Pitman, L. Endara, C. Ulloa Ulloa & H. Navarrete (2011) Libro rojo de las plantas endémicas del Ecuador. 2 da. Edición. Publicaciones del Herbario QCA, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito. Pp. 957.
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Scalesia helleri", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=1104. Accessed 24 April 2025.