Family: Amaranthaceae

Origin, Description & Uses
Gomphrena celosioides is an annual or perennial herb native to Ecuador through northern Argentina. It grows primarily in seasonally dry tropical areas and produces low, spreading stems with small, rounded flower heads. It is cultivated as an ornamental and has herbal and pasture uses in some regions, and can persist in disturbed areas, including roadsides, pastures, and cultivated land. In Hawaiʻi, it is naturalized on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu and is potentially naturalizing on Hawaiʻi Island.

Risks & Threats
Gomphrena celosioides is naturalized in Hawaiʻi and possesses traits that are cause for concern, including its ability to reproduce by seed and persist in disturbed habitats through a long-lived soil seed bank. Its tolerance of cultivation, grazing, and repeated disturbance may allow it to spread in agricultural and other modified areas and potentially displace existing vegetation. It is also unpalatable to livestock, toxic to horses, and a host for recognized pests and pathogens. These characteristics could detrimentally impact tropical island ecosystems. Where suitable, choose a low-risk or native alternative. Because this species is already established on multiple islands, manage or prevent its use in areas where it is not yet widely established to minimize further spread and negative impacts.

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate suitability
  
• Naturalized beyond native range (Kauaʻi Naturalized, Oʻahu Naturalized, Hawaiʻi Potentially naturalizing)
  
• Garden/amenity/disturbance weed
  
• Agricultural/forestry/horticultural weed
  
• Congeneric weed
  
• Unpalatable to grazing animals
  
• Toxic to animals
  
• Host for recognized pests and pathogens
  
• Tolerates wide range of soil conditions
  
• Reproduces by seed
  
• Propagules dispersed unintentionally
  
• Propagules dispersed intentionally by people
  
• Propagules disperse as produce contaminant
  
• Propagules water dispersed
  
• Propagules dispersed by other animals externally
  
• Propagules survive passage through gut
  
• Persistent propagule bank formed
  
• Tolerates mutilation, cultivation, or fire

Low Risk Traits:

• No spines, thorns, or burrs
  
• No fire hazard in natural ecosystems
  
• Not shade tolerant
  
• Not climbing or smothering
  
• No vegetative fragmentation
  
• Propagules not wind dispersed
  
• Propagules not bird dispersed
  
• Well controlled by herbicides