Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Sesuvium edmonstonei Hook. f.

sesuvium, Galápagos carpetweed

Sesuvium edmondstonii Hook. f. Photo: Patricia Jaramillo, Rachel Atkinson, Anne Guézou, CDF, 2006.
Sesuvium edmondstonii Hook. f. Photo: Patricia Jaramillo, Rachel Atkinson, Anne Guézou, CDF, 2006.

Leaves are opposite, simple, and 3cm long. Flowers have 5 lobes and are white while the seeds are black and wrinkled (McMullen 1999).

Often forms dense carpets over rocky and sandy terrain, and takes on an orange-red color during the cool season (McMullen 1999).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Caryophyllales

Family
Aizoaceae

Genus
Sesuvium

Species
edmonstonei

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Halimus edmonstonei (Hook.f.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 263 (1891); Sesuvium eastwoodianum J.T.Howell in Leafl. W. Bot. 10: 352 (1966)

Origin: Endemic

Status

Least concern

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: According POWO (2023), the native range of this species is Galápagos, and is introduced for mainland Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.

References

  • Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
  • Eliasson, U. (1966) Studies in Galápagos Plants. III. Centrospermae. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 60: 393-439.
  • GBIF Secretariat (2021) GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei Accessed via https://www.gbif.org/species/5284517
  • Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
  • 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. (1998) Distribución Espacial de la Vegetación Vascular y Dispersión de Especies Introducidas dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos. Tesis de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Especialización ECOLOGIA DE POBLACIONES.
  • 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.
  • Riley, L.A.M. (1925) Critical Notes on Galápagos Plants (St. George Pacific Expedition, 1924). Kew Bull. Misc. Info. 1925(5): 216-231.
  • 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.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
  • Schönitzer, K. (1975) Galápagos Plants. Privately Published, Quito: 1-43.
  • 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
  • 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, Sesuvium edmonstonei", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=132. Accessed 7 February 2026.