Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Cuphea carthagenensis
nicaragüita, quiebrapiedras, Santa Lucia, purple cuphea, colombian waxweed, tarweed
Annual herb, 15-50 cm high, with large glandular hairs and opposite leaves. The petioles is green to reddish; with small flowers, petals 6, pale pink, drying violet, and the seeds are brownish red (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Widespread as a weed (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Myrtales
Family
Lythraceae
Genus
Cuphea
Species
carthagenensis
Taxon category: Accepted
In Caruel (1889), Robinson (1902), and Stewart (1911) as Cuphea patula St.-Hil fide Wiggins & Porter (1971), Itow (1997) as Cuphea carthagensis.
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 Mexico to Tropical America (POWO, 2023).
- Adsersen, H. (s.a.) Field notes, 1974 and 1977 collections Charles darwin Research Station, unpublished Manuscript.
- Guerrero, A. Tye, A. (2009) Darwin's Finches as seed predators and dispersers. The Wilson Journal Of Ornithology 121 (4):752-764, 2009
- 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. Adsersen, H. & Bentley, P. (1987) An updated and annotated check list of the vascular plants of the Galapagos islands. Rept. Bot. Inst., Univ. Aarhus 16: 1-74.
- Lawesson, J.E. (1987) Plantas exóticas en las Islas Galápagos, un resumen. Memorias. Taller sobre investigación Botánica y manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 17-23.
- Porter, D.M. (1983) Vascular Plants of the Galapagos: Origins and Dispersal. In: Bowman, R.I., Berson, M. & Leviton, A.E. (eds.): Patterns of evolution in Galápagos organisms. Pacific Division, AAAS, San Francisco, California, p. 33-96.
- 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 (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.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).
- 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
- Van Leeuwen, J.F. Froyd, C.A., van der Knapp, W.O, Coffey, E.E., Tye, A. & Willis, K.J. (2008) Fossil Pollen as a Guide to Conservation in the Galapagos. Science, 2008 Nov 21, 322(5905): 1206, DOI: 101126/Science. 1163454.
- 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, Cuphea carthagenensis", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=566. Accessed 30 October 2026.