''Abutilon grandifolium'', the hairy Indian mallow, is a large shrub that is up to high with broad, leaf blades. Flowers are axillary, with a yellow corolla across, composed of petals long. The fruits are ovoid-globular

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...

s that are in diameter and composed of ten shortly beaked mericarps, containing 2-3 seeds each. ''A. grandifolium'' can be distinguished from ''A. theophrasti'' by long, simple hairs on the stem rather than

stellate Stellate, meaning star-shaped, may refer to: * Stellate cell * Stellate ganglion * Stellate reticulum * Stellate veins * Stellate trichomes (hairs) on plants * Stellate laceration or incision Wound#Open * Stellate fan-shaped Espalier (one form ...

hairs.

Distribution

The species is native to tropical

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

and Central and South

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

,Bailey, L.H. and E.Z. Bailey
''Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada''
MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York , (1977). but it is naturalised in other parts of the world, including the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, and throughout

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It ...

and

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand ( particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

y areas of Australia. In Western Australia, it is found in the

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geo ...

. Due to this species’ prolific seed production and propensity to spread, ''A. grandifolium'' is considered an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

in some of the regions where it grows, becoming a problematic weed in

riparian zones A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ...

, grasslands, and tall shrubland

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

throughout the world. In Hawaii, it is reported as having a detrimental effect on ''

Spermolepis hawaiiensis ''Spermolepis hawaiiensis'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Hawai'i scaleseed. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it is known from the islands of Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, and Hawaii. It is ...

'' and '' Scaevola coriacea,'' two endangered and threatened plant species.

Threat level

''A. grandifolium'' is considered an invasive or potentially invasive weed in

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, and in parts of Australia (particularly southeastern Queensland and eastern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

), and is not considered a threatened species.

References

External links

''Abutilon grandifolium'' information
from th
Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR)''Abutilon grandiflorum''
in ''Flowering Plants of Africa'' 64: 76–83 (2015). grandifolium {{Malveae-stub