Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Scalesia microcephala
lechoso, small - headed scalesia






Leaves alternate densely pubescent, ray-flowers absent and aristae if present 1-2, smooth, pointed in none or a few of the achenes of a head.
Frecuently at middle and upper altitudes.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Asterales
Family
Asteraceae
Genus
Scalesia
Species
microcephala
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Endemic
Distribution: This species has two varieties on Fernandina and North Isabela Islands. The population has declined on Isabela, especially on the Alcedo volcano, due to feral animals, but is possibly stable today, due to the eradication program. Its recovery depends on the success of this program.
- Adsersen, H. (1987) Patrones de distribución interna de las plantas vasculares en Galápagos. Memorias. Investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg.74-87
- 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.
- Eliasson, U. (1968) Studies in Galápagos Plants. V. Some New Botanical Records from the Archipelago. Svensk Botanisk Tidsskrift 62: 243-250.
- Eliasson, U. (1970) Studies in Galápagos Plants VIII: Cromosome Numbers of Some Endemic Species. Botaniska Notiser 123: 149-154.
- Hamann, O. (1987) Investigación y manejo en las Galápagos: algunas consideraciones botánicas. Memorias. Taller sobre investigación Botánica y manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 5-11.
- Harling, G. (1962) On Some Compositae Endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Acta Horti Bergiani. 20(3): 63-119.
- Hendrix, L.B. Smith, S.D. (1986) Post eruption revegetation of Isla Fernandina, Galapagos II. (NB no recs cited in Lawesson et al. nor in database.) Nat. Geograph. Research 2(1): 6-16.
- Howell, J.T. (1941) The genus Scalesia. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. Series 4, 22: 221-271.
- 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.
- Jaramillo, P. Trigo, M. M. (2006) Pollen morphology of the Galapagos endemic genus Scalesia Arn. (Asteraceae). Noticias de Galápagos 64: 26-30.
- 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.
- Lawesson, J.E. Adsersen, H. & Bentley, P. (1987) An updated and annotated check list of the vascular plants of the Galapagos islands. Rept. Bot. Inst., Univ. Aarhus 16: 1-74.
- 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.
- Mauchamp, A. Atkinson, R. (2008-2009) Pérdida de hábitat rápida, reciente e irreversible:Los Bosques de Scalesia en las Islas Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin Research Station
- Nowak, J.B. Lawesson, J., Adsersen, H., de Vries, T. (1987) Dos años de estudio de la dinámica de la vegetación posterior al incendio en el sur de Isabela, Islas Galápagos, Ecuador. Memorias. Taller sobre Investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 139-153.
- Porter, D.M. (1983) Vascular Plants of the Galapagos: Origins and Dispersal. In: Bowman, R.I., Berson, M. & Leviton, A.E. (eds.): Patterns of evolution in Galápagos organisms. Pacific Division, AAAS, San Francisco, California, p. 33-96.
- 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.
- 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.
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Scalesia microcephala", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=1105. Accessed 18 January 2026.