Family: Amaranthaceae

Alternanthera pungens (khakiweed, creeping chaffweed) is a creeping herbaceous plant native to Central and South America. The plant is thought to have some medicinal properties. It is reported to be naturalized in Australia and South Africa, and on almost every main Hawaiian Island. This plant carries harmful spiny, burrs that can attach to footwear, clothing, tires, machinery and animals. It is a pasture weed, and enjoys growing in parks, lawns, and other agricultural areas. The plant is suspected of causing the deaths of pigs when ingested, and digestive disturbances and dermatitis of cattle. It spreads easily through tap root, seed, and plant fragments. Avoid planting or spreading this weed whenever possible.

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate suitability
  
• Thrives in tropical climates
  
• Naturalized on Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokai, Lanaʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe and Hawaiʻi Island and widely naturalized elsewhere
  
• A weed of disturbed sites, lawns, agriculture and the natural environment (although primarily a weed of beach parks and low elevation disturbed sites in Hawaiian Islands)
  
• Other Alternanthera species are invasive
  
• Spine-tipped bracts
  
• Unpalatable to most animals
  
• Toxic to animals and people
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Forms dense cover that can exclude other vegetation
  
• Reproduces by seeds and vegetatively by rooting at nodes and stem fragments
  
• Reaches maturity in one growing season
  
• Prickly burrs attach to animals, clothing and machinery
  
• Also dispersed by water, by cultivation and as a soil and crop contaminant
  
• Seeds can persist in soil for several years
  
• Able to resprout from taproot if not entirely removed from soil

Low Risk Traits:

• May be shade intolerant
  
• Herbicides can provide effective control