Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Alternanthera echinocephala
alternantera blanca, spiny - headed chaff flower, seaurchin joyweed
A branching woody shrub covered in papery white flowers. The leaves and stems are light green.
A common coastal plant, distributed widely, also in Peru (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Caryophyllales
Family
Amaranthaceae
Genus
Alternanthera
Species
echinocephala
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Brandesia echinocephala Hook. f., Telanthera argentea Andersson, T. argentea var. robustior Andersson, T. argentea var. nudiflora Andersson, T. argentea var. bracteata Andersson, T. echinocephala (Hook. f.) Moq. fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is Galápagos, records from Manabi in the 1990's (POWO, 2023; Tropicos, 2023).
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- 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.
- Cayot, L. J. (1987) Ecology of Giant Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus)in the Galápagos Islands. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology in the Graduate School of Syracuse University.
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- Eliasson, U. (1989) Especies de Amaranthaceae en las Islas Galápagos y sus relaciones con las especies del continente Sudamericano. Pg. 33 - 38. Memorias. Taller sobre investigación Botánica y menejos en Galápagos.
- Eliasson, U. (1966) Studies in Galápagos Plants. III. Centrospermae. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 60: 393-439.
- Guerrero, A. Tye, A. (2009) Darwin's Finches as seed predators and dispersers. The Wilson Journal Of Ornithology 121 (4):752-764, 2009
- Heleno, R. Blake, S., Jaramillo, P., Traveset, A., Vargas, P. & Nogales, M. (2011) Frugivory and seed dispersal in the Galápagos: what is the state of the art? Integrative Zoology 6: 110-128.
- 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.
- Howell, J.T. (1933) The Amaranthaceae of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 21(9) 87-116.
- 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.
- Lawesson, J.E. (s.a.) Pers. obs. field notes, collections 1985-7.
- 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.
- 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.
- Sequeira, A.S. Lanteri, A.A., Scataglini, M.A., Confalonieri, V.A. & Farrell, B.D. (2000) Are flightless Galapaganus weevils older than the Galápagos islands they inhabit? Heredity 85: 20-29.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
- 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, Alternanthera echinocephala", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=138. Accessed 3 November 2025.