Family: Verbenaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate tolerance (35°N–35°S, 0–2000 m)
  
• Widely naturalized
  
• Agricultural & environmental weed (14 crops, forests, pastures)
  
• Produces prickles
  
• Allelopathic
  
• Toxic to animals & humans
  
• Fire-prone (burns green)
  
• Shade-tolerant
  
• Tolerates wide soil range
  
• Forms dense thickets
  
• Self-compatible; flowers in first year
  
• Prolific seed production (>1000/m²)
  
• Persistent seed bank (several years)
  
• Dispersed by birds, mammals, machinery, shoes; survives gut passage
  
• Resprouts after slashing, burning, digging

Low Risk Traits:

• Not wind-dispersed
  
• Biocontrol agents effective in some regions (e.g., drier Hawaii)