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Description: Hyptis capitatais an erect herb in the Mint Family (Lamiaceae). It is closely related to and often confused withHyptis rhomboideaMart. & Galeottiwhich is also known as False Ironwort, Knobweed, or Buttonweed. H. capitata is an aromatic, low-growing annual to perennial plant that can become more or less woody. Normally small in stature, H. capitata is grows up to about 1.5-2 m (4.5-6 ft) tall with simple leaves and subglobose (more or less globe-shaped) inflorescences or clusters of small flowers. The leaves are arranged opposite one another along the stems and are ovate-oblong in shape, with an acute tip and serrated edges.These small, sessile, white flowers are produced in nearly round heads (groups of flowers) up to 2 cm (~1 in) in diameter. These flowering heads turn from green to dark brown when they are mature, persisting at ends of the plant branches; and the seeds or nutlets are brown. These weedy plants can be recognized rather easily by their dark brown flowering heads that dry out and remain attached to the stems long after the leaves have dropped off, especially during drier periods.
Distribution: Hyptis capitata is an alien plant brought to a number of tropical Pacific islands, including some in Micronesia, by people and now naturalized (in other words, it grows spontaneously or wild in the environment). This H. capitata is probably native in areas from southern Mexico to Peru, but its exact native range in tropical America is obscure. Today it is widely naturalized in tropics, and is considered to be invasive on some islands of Micronesia (e.g., Palau, Guam, Pohnpei, and others). This and other Hyptis species are common on Guam, but not present on many other islands in Micronesia or the Pacific. Since these Hyptis species are well-known weeds, they should be excluded where not already present. For example, H. capitata is present on Pohnpei in the Eastern Caroline Islands, while Kosrae also in the Eastern Carolines is reportedly still free of this invasive plant species which could pose a threat if introduced to Kosrae Island (e.g., see Space et al. 2000). The potential for significant infestations of this weedy plant when vegetation clearing takes place have been explained by Parsons and Cuthbertson (1992:488-490):
“It seeds prolifically each year which ensures survival. The seeds, however, are light-sensitive and germination requires exposure to light. On the other hand, exposure to far-red radiation, which is predominant where sunlight is filtered through a canopy of leaves, hinders germination. Thus, since knobweed [H. capitata] is often found along margins and tracks of rainforests, there will be a large quantity of ungerminated seeds present which provides a nucleus of infestation when these areas are cleared....”
General Uses: H. capitata is reportedly used to make leaf tea for a number of ailments in some parts of its wide native and introduced range of distribution; this herbal tea has been used reportedly for treatment of indigestion, constipation, diarrhea; and in some places fruits of this species are “burnt and the ash mixed with coconut oil and applied to skin diseases, rashes and itch” (Quattrocchi 2012:2051).
Uses by Island or Island Group in Micronesia:
Uses in Yap: H. capitata is an alien plant brought to Yap by people and now naturalized as a weedy species. Known in Yapese as Pathpath, the stems of H. capitata are used as playing sticks for a children's throwing game. In addition, the growing leaf tips of H. capitata are reportedly used for medicine; and the dry "thorny capsules" are used for cleaning wounds to avoid scars and rashes.
Uses in Mariana Islands: Introduced to Guam, H. capitata is an alien weed common in savanna lands on this island (Stone, 1970: 511). A local medicinal use on Guam for H. capitata (known in Guam as Batones or Butones) involves “crushing the leaves and applying them to cuts and abrasions for the prevention of infection” (Moore and McMakin 1979:65; also see McMakin 1978:46). On the other hand, Fosberg (1957), in his typed notes attached to his herbarium specimen No. 39196 collected on Guam, listed the local name for this species as “Butones” and referred to it being “Abundant on weedy slopes, disturbed area.” Forberg also indicated that “cut stubs” of this small weedy plant were “said to cause seriously poisoned wounds, sometimes fatal” (see Herbarium voucher image from Bishop Museum (Hyptis capitata); BISH #150610 Herbarium Pacificum).
Note: Manner (2013:238) recorded the “occasional” occurrence of Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit.
Among the the vegetation of Romonum Island in Chuuk Lagoon, which he listed as known in Chuukese as nokonok. Among the Micronesian Islands that H. suaveolens has been recorded from Guam, Yap and Chuuk (e.g., see http://www.hear.org/pier/species/hyptis_suaveolens.htm).