Cook Islands Biodiversity & Natural Heritage
 

Phyllanthus tenellus

 

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General Information

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Mascarene Islands

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands, horticultural

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Weed - minor

KEY FEATURES: Annual woody herb to 80cm. STEM round. LEAVES alternate, oval, to 20x10mm; stalk to 1mm. FLOWERS separate sexes on same plant (monoecious); MALE stalk to 1.5mm; petals 5, round, overlapping; FEMALE STALK TO 6mm, petals 5, narrow-oval. FRUIT depressed-globose, 2mmØ, explosive. SEEDS low pustules in longitudinal rows.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See Phyllanthus amarus.

Enlarged Image of 'Phyllanthus tenellus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR 
MG
AT
MK
MT
AK
PL
TK
MN
++
++

Northern Group:
TN 
MH
RK
PK
NS
SW
-
-

Key to Symbols

Scientific Taxonomy

Phyllanthus tenellus W.Roxburgh 1832
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Euphorbiales; EUPHORBIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - minor. Comments: A small, fast-growing and persistent weed in gardens. Not a problem in cropping larger plants.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: Ambala Garden, with B.Sykes 2000, ID B.Sykes. Mangaia: fieldspecimen+photo, Nursery and inland road, NBSAP 2000 & 9/2001, ID GM.

References:
p.628 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org. Copy citation to system clipboard
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