The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™

ISSN 2307-8235 (online)

IUCN 2008: T164480A67771620
Scope: Global
Language: English

Alternanthera sessilis, Sessile Joyweed

Assessment by: Lansdown, R.V. & Beentje, H.J.

View on www.iucnredlist.org

Citation: Lansdown, R.V. & Beentje, H.J. 2017. Alternanthera sessilis. The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species 2017: e.T164480A67771620. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-
1.RLTS.T164480A67771620.en

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Taxonomy
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family

Plantae Tracheophyta Magnoliopsida Caryophyllales Amaranthaceae

Taxon Name:  Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R.Br. ex DC.

Synonym(s):
• Alternanthera denticulata R. Brown
• Alternanthera nodiflora R. Brown
• Alternanthera sessilis R.Br.
• Gomphrena sessilis L.
• Illecebrum sessile L.

Regional Assessments:
• Mediterranean

Common Name(s):
• English: Sessile Joyweed, Dwarf Copperleaf
• French: Brède Chevrette, Brède Emballages, Magloire, Serenti

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Published: 2017

Date Assessed: May 12, 2016

Justification:
This species is widespread and abundant throughout most of its range with no known significant
threats. It is therefore listed as Least Concern.

Previously Published Red List Assessments

2014 – Least Concern (LC)
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T164480A49527118.en

2013 – Least Concern (LC)

2011 – Least Concern (LC)

Geographic Range
Range Description:
The species occurs in tropical and subtropical regions. It is present throughout most of Africa south of
the Sahara and Egypt, throughout the Middle East, east through the Indian subcontinent, most Indian
Ocean island groups, East and Southeast Asia from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, south
through Japan, China, Myanmar and Viet Nam to Malaysia. It also occurs in Indonesia, Papua New

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Alternanthera sessilis – published in 2017. 1
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Guinea, Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand. It is reported as native to some of the Pacific Ocean
island groups and as introduced to others. In the Western Hemisphere it is non-native in the southern
United States and is probably native in Central America and the Caribbean south through much of South
America to Chile and Argentina.

It is apparently largely absent from temperate and Mediterranean regions; reports of its presence in
Europe and Russia are unreliable. It has been naturalised in northern and eastern parts of Spain.

Country Occurrence:
Native: American Samoa (American Samoa, American Samoa); Argentina; Australia (New South Wales,
Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia); Bangladesh; Belize; Benin; Bhutan; Botswana; Brazil
(Acre, Amazonas, Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Roraima, Santa
Catarina, São Paulo); Burkina Faso; Cambodia; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Central African Republic; Chad;
China (Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan,
Zhejiang); Christmas Island; Colombia; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Cook Islands
(Cook Is.); Côte d'Ivoire; Djibouti; Ecuador (Ecuador (mainland), Galápagos); Egypt (Egypt (African part));
Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia; Fiji; French Polynesia (Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu); Gabon; Gambia;
Ghana; Guam; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Hong Kong; India (Andaman Is., Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Nicobar Is., Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal, West Bengal);
Indonesia (Jawa, Papua); Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Japan (Ogasawara-shoto); Jordan; Kenya;
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lesotho;
Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia); Maldives; Mali; Marshall Islands;
Mauritania; Mauritius (Mauritius (main island), Rodrigues); Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of ;
Mozambique; Myanmar (Myanmar (mainland)); Namibia (Caprivi Strip, Namibia (main part)); Nauru;
Nepal; New Caledonia; New Zealand (North Is., South Is.); Niger; Nigeria; Norfolk Island; Northern
Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea (main island group));
Peru; Philippines; Pitcairn; Samoa; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Seychelles (Seychelles (main island group));
Sierra Leone; Singapore; Solomon Islands (Santa Cruz Is., South Solomons); South Africa (Free State,
Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga); Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Taiwan,
Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Togo; Tonga; Tuvalu; Uganda; Vanuatu; Viet
Nam; Wallis and Futuna; Yemen (North Yemen, Socotra, South Yemen); Zambia; Zimbabwe

Introduced: United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaiian Is. - Native, Louisiana)

Present - origin uncertain: Chile; Costa Rica (Costa Rica (mainland)); Dominican Republic; Guatemala;
Jamaica; Nicaragua (Nicaragua (mainland)); Panama; Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico (main island)); Trinidad
and Tobago

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Alternanthera sessilis – published in 2017. 2
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Distribution Map
Alternanthera sessilis

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Alternanthera sessilis – published in 2017. 3
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Population
This species has a huge global range including both native and introduced distributions. It is probably no
longer possible to be certain of its native range and consequently whether there may be different trends
in native and introduced populations. However, it is extremely abundant and increasing in many areas,
to the extent that it is considered a weed in the southern USA.
Current Population Trend:  Increasing

Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)

This is a pioneer or ruderal species which typically grows on disturbed parts of a variety of wetland
habitats, often in species-rich associations with a range of other aquatic and wetland plants. It grows in
the draw-down zones of water bodies or in water up to 1 m deep, where it may be part floating and part
emergent or even grow in mats of floating vegetation. It is a typical plant of floodplain wetlands, of river
margins, streams, canals, ditches, ponds, reservoirs and tanks (in India). It will also grow in marshes,
swamps, wet low-lying ground, ephemeral pools, seasonal pans and damp forest. It is a typical species
of anthropogenic wetland habitats, such as damp areas in abandoned cultivation sites, particularly in
wet headlands, fallow rice fields, in seasonally waterlogged roadside depressions, on damp tracks and
around villages, plantations, waste ground and even gardens. It will also grow in relatively dry situations
on ditch banks or amongst cultivated crops. In Nigeria it is a weed of maize crops and in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, it has been recorded growing in fields with sorghum, millet, Eleusine spp., maize,
cotton, cassava, groundnuts and other cash crops. In the Philippines it occurs with tobacco, dry land
field crops, pastures, and vegetable farms. It will grow on a range of soil types from poor sandy or
alkaline soils, to loam or black cotton soils. It may extend into brackish water and estuarine habitats
near the coast.

Systems:  Terrestrial, Freshwater

Use and Trade

It is eaten as a vegetable and cultivated as such. It is also used in medicine (Cook 1996, Larsen 1992) to
treat diarrhoea, dysentery and fevers. The leaves, flowers and tender stems are used as a vegetable in
Karnataka. Juice of this plant, deemed beneficial to eyes, is an ingredient in the making of medicinal hair
oils and Kajal (kohl). The red variety of this plant is a common garden hedging plant, which is also used
as a culinary vegetable. Young shoots and leaves of the weed are harvested as vegetables in Malaysia,
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Indo-China. It also serves as good ground cover and fodder.
Medical lotions may also be produced from A. sessilis for treatment of beri-beri and fever, and infusions
of the weed can be taken internally for fever and inflammation of the intestines (Burkill 1966, Soewardi
et al. 1982, Pancho and Obien 1983, CABI).

Threats
A. sessilis is a weed of cultivated and waste ground. It is probably increasing both in range and
abundance and is not subject to any known threats.

Conservation Actions (see Appendix for additional information)

No conservation actions are currently known or likely to be needed.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Alternanthera sessilis – published in 2017. 4
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Credits
Assessor(s): Lansdown, R.V. & Beentje, H.J.

Reviewer(s): Luke, W.R.Q.

Contributor(s): Gupta, A.K., Patzelt, A., Knees, S. & de Bélair, G.

Facilitators(s) and Maiz-Tome, L.

Compiler(s):

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Alternanthera sessilis – published in 2017. 5
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Bibliography
African plants database. 2012. African plants database (version 3.3.5). Pretoria Available at: www.ville-
ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa. (Accessed: 2012).

Al Khulaidi, A.W. 2004. Flora of Yemen.

Dassanayake, M.D. and Fosberg, F.R. (eds) 1980. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Amerind
Publishing Company, New Delhi.

IUCN. 2017. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-1. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org.

Miller, A.G. and Cope, T.A. 1996. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. Edinburgh University Press,
Edinburgh.

Miller, A.G. and Morris, M. 2004. Ethnoflora of the Soqotra Archipelago. Royal Botanic Garden
Edinburgh, Edinburgh.

Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. 2010(20 January).

Townsend C.C. 1985. Flora of tropical East Africa: Amaranthaceae.: 1-136.

Wood, J.R.I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew., London.

Wu, Z.Y., Raven, P.H. and Hong, D.Y. (eds). 2010. Flora of China. Science Press and Missouri Botanical
Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis.

Citation
Lansdown, R.V. & Beentje, H.J. 2017. Alternanthera sessilis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
2017: e.T164480A67771620. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T164480A67771620.en

Disclaimer
To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.

External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.

© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Alternanthera sessilis – published in 2017. 6
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T164480A67771620.en
 Appendix

Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Major
Habitat Season Suitability
Importance?

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.9. Artificial/Aquatic - Canals and - - -

Drainage Channels, Ditches

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.8. Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally - Suitable Yes
Flooded Agricultural Land

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.7. Artificial/Aquatic - Irrigated Land - - -

(includes irrigation channels)

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.6. Artificial/Aquatic - Wastewater - - -

Treatment Areas

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.3. Artificial/Aquatic - Aquaculture - - -

Ponds

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.2. Artificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below - - -

8ha)

15. Artificial/Aquatic & Marine -> 15.1. Artificial/Aquatic - Water Storage - Suitable -
Areas (over 8ha)

14. Artificial/Terrestrial -> 14.3. Artificial/Terrestrial - Plantations - Marginal -

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.16. Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Saline, - Marginal -

Brackish or Alkaline Marshes/Pools

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.9. Wetlands (inland) - Freshwater Springs and - Suitable Yes
Oases

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.8. Wetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent - Suitable No

Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.7. Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater - Suitable Yes
Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.6. Wetlands (inland) - Seasonal/Intermittent - Suitable Yes

Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.5. Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater - Suitable Yes
Lakes (over 8ha)

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.4. Wetlands (inland) - Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, - Suitable Yes
Fens, Peatlands

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.3. Wetlands (inland) - Shrub Dominated Wetlands - Marginal -

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.2. Wetlands (inland) - - Suitable Yes

Seasonal/Intermittent/Irregular Rivers/Streams/Creeks

5. Wetlands (inland) -> 5.1. Wetlands (inland) - Permanent - Suitable Yes

Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)

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 Major
Habitat Season Suitability
Importance?

4. Grassland -> 4.6. Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally - Suitable Yes

Wet/Flooded

2. Savanna -> 2.2. Savanna - Moist - Marginal -

1. Forest -> 1.6. Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland - Marginal -

Conservation Actions in Place

(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)

Conservation Actions in Place

In-Place Research, Monitoring and Planning

Action Recovery plan: No

Systematic monitoring scheme: No

In-Place Land/Water Protection and Management

Conservation sites identified: Yes, over part of range

Occur in at least one PA: No

Area based regional management plan: No

Invasive species control or prevention: Unknown

In-Place Species Management

Harvest management plan: No

Successfully reintroduced or introduced beningly: No

Subject to ex-situ conservation: No

In-Place Education

Subject to recent education and awareness programmes: No

Included in international legislation: No

Subject to any international management/trade controls: No

Additional Data Fields

Distribution
Lower elevation limit (m): 0

Upper elevation limit (m): 1840

Population
Population severely fragmented: No

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 Habitats and Ecology
Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat: No

Generation Length (years): 1-5

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The IUCN Red List Partnership

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership.

The IUCN Red List Partners are: Arizona State University; BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens
Conservation International; Conservation International; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew;
Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M University; and Zoological Society of London.

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™