Family: Melastomataceae
False meadow beauty is an invasive weed native to South America. The first documentation of weediness in Hawaii occurred in 1949. It is often found in low elevation disturbed sites, lawns, roadsides, and trail sides. The pink flowers grow faster than surrounding grasses, especially in areas that are periodically mowed.
The notoriously invasive family Melastomataceae is on the Hawaii Noxious Weed List. Unintentional movement of seeds through contamination i.e. muddy shoes or tires is common. Birds disperse the seeds externally either in their feathers or on their muddy feet. The copious amounts of seeds produced and a long-lived seed bank make False Meadow beauty difficult to control.
Description and Dispersal:
- Profusely branched, erect, suffrutescent herb or subshrub up to 0.5 m tall. Stem and distal branchlets obscurely quadrangular, moderately strigose.
- Green leaves are ovate to oblong-ovate or elliptic.
- Pink flowers have 4 petals.
- Seeds are wind and animal dispersed.
- Seeds are spread as a contaminate by humans and animals.
High Risk Traits:
- Thrives in tropical climates
- Naturalized on Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii (Hawaiian Islands)
- An environmental weed in the Hawaiian Islands, threatening native ecosystems and rare and endangered plant species
- Reproduces by seeds and vegetatively from root fragments
- Agamospermous (capable of producing seeds asexually)
- Reaches maturity quickly
- Minute seeds dispersed by water, attached to birds and other animals, in soil attached to hikers, and possibly short distances by wind
- Prolific seed production (>500 seeds/fruit capsule)
Low Risk Traits:
- Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
- Non-toxic
