Miconia calvescens
Miconia calvescens
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Miconia calvescens has become an invasive weed in several areas of the tropics. Every year the mature trees produce thousands of tiny fruits, which contain in total millions of seeds. Most long-range spread is caused by fruit-eating birds, though the seed can also be spread on shoes, equipment, etc, or on the hooves of ungulates. In Tahiti, for example, other than the larger trees that Miconia cannot overtop, entire hillsides are covered with this plant, which prevents the reproduction of native plants and eventually produces a monoculture of Miconia as the native plants die off[1].
Propagation
Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Miconia+calvescens>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
- [2]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
- [3]Woods of Northeastern Peru — Williams L. · Field Museum Press; Chicago. · 1936 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎Gives information on the properties of the wood of well over 1,000 species of woody plants from northeastern Peru. Can be downloaded from the Internet.
- [4]Flora of Costa Rica — Standley P.C. · Field Museum of Natural History; Chicago · 1938 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎Rather dated, but an excellent treatment of the area. Available for download from the internet.