Family: Asteraceae

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate and elevation range, demonstrating environmental versatility
  
• Grows in temperate to tropical climates
  
• Naturalized on main Hawaiian Islands (except Ni'ihau and Kaho'olawe) and widely naturalized elsewhere
  
• A disturbance-adapted weed of lawns, gardens, and cultivated areas that can also invade native ecosystems and threaten endangered plant species (Hawaiian Islands)
  
• Shade-tolerant
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Reproduces by seeds
  
• Autogamous (able to produce seeds through self-fertilization)
  
• An annual, reaching maturity in <1 year
  
• Seeds dispersed by wind, water & unintentionally by people
  
• Prolific seed production (but probably not in excess of 1000 m-2)
  
• Forms a persistent seed bank (up to 20 years or more)
  
• Mechanical control may be difficult due to growth habit

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Provides fodder for livestock
  
• Not reported to spread vegetatively
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control