Galapagos Species Database

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

Pectis subsquarrosa (Hook. f.) Sch.Bip.

estrella dorada, pectis

Pollen grain of Pectis subsquarrosa (Hook. f.) Sch. Bip. (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.
Pollen grain of Pectis subsquarrosa (Hook. f.) Sch. Bip. (scanning electron micrograph). Photo: Patricia Jaramillo Díaz & M. Mar Trigo, CDF, 2011.

A small plant with green leaves covered in oily glands. The stems are dark red, and the five-petaled flowers are yellow.

It occurs in the dry zone in open vegetation and is found in loose cinders and sometimes crevices of raw lava (Wiggins and Porter 1972).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Asterales

Family
Asteraceae

Genus
Pectis

Species
subsquarrosa

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Lorentea gracilis Hook.f., L. subsquarrosa Hook.f., Pectis anderssonii Robinson, P. hookeri Robinson, P. glabra fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010). Wiggins & Porter (1971) also lists Lorentea linearis Anderss. as a doubtful synonym of this species.

Origin: Endemic

Status

Least concern

Distribution

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

Distribution: Species widely distributed in many Galapagos islands, where its plants are scattered but quite common.

References

  • Adsersen, H. (s.a.) Field notes, 1974 and 1977 collections Charles darwin Research Station, unpublished Manuscript.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • Schofield, E.K. (1984) Plants of the Galapagos Islands. Field Guide and Travel Journal. Universe Books, New York, 159 pp.
  • 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
  • Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
  • 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, Pectis subsquarrosa", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=331. Accessed 30 October 2026.