Galapagos Species Database

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

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Alternanthera helleri (Robinson) Howell

alternanthera

Pollen grain of Alternanthera helleri (B.L. Rob.) Howell (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.
Pollen grain of Alternanthera helleri (B.L. Rob.) Howell (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.

Generally it is green depending on altitude; its leaf blades broadly ovate, leaves more acute at the base with rounded apex and flowers closely imbricate.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Caryophyllales

Family
Amaranthaceae

Genus
Alternanthera

Species
helleri

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Telanthera helleri Robinson, T. helleri var. obtusior Robinson, fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)

Origin: Endemic

Status

Vulnerable

Distribution

Distribution: Species known from Galapagos populations on Wolf and Darwin Islands, where it is common.

References

  • Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
  • Mauchamp, A. (1995) Informe de viaje de campo a Darwin y Wolf. Inventario sistematico de la flora y fauna de las islas. Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished.
  • 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.
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • Howell, J.T. (1933) The Amaranthaceae of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 21(9) 87-116.
  • Restrepo, A. Bush, M., Correa-Metrio, A., Conroy, J., Gardener, M. R., Jaramillo, P., Steinitz-Kannan, M., Overpeck, J. & Colinvaux, P. (2011) Impacts of climate variability and human colonization on the vegetation of the Galápagos Islands. Ecology: 1-42.
  • 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, Alternanthera helleri", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=150. Accessed 12 January 2025.