Galapagos Species Database

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

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Alternanthera flavicoma (Andersson) Howell

alternantera del este

Pollen grain of Alternanthera flavicoma (Andersson) Howell (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.
Pollen grain of Alternanthera flavicoma (Andersson) Howell (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.

A woody shrub with red stem bases. Unlike the other Alternanthera this species forms a twisted woody trunk with age. The branches on older plants can be pruned into shapes.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Caryophyllales

Family
Amaranthaceae

Genus
Alternanthera

Species
flavicoma

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Telanthera flavicoma Andersson fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010), Alternanthera flosculosa J.T. Howell.

Origin: Endemic

Status

Vulnerable

Distribution

Distribution: Restricted species on San Cristobal Island. There is no evidence of a population die-off.

References

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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.

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This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Alternanthera flavicoma", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=147. Accessed 30 October 2026.