General Information

COMMON NAMES: Sanchezia GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE trop. S.America; EXOTIC EXOTIC (incl. Samoa / Tonga - S.Cooks) COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Semi-naturalised (Rarotonga only); Land, lowlands, gardens; likes moisture and shade SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental (Leaf/Flower) KEY FEATURES: An erect shrub to 2m. STEMS 4-angled. LEAVES opposite, large oval, to 25x7cm, glossy green, midrib white with reddish basal section, veins white to yellow. FLOWERS terminal, dense cluster along a stalk; bracts bright red, to 15mm; 5 sepals to 20mm (longer than bracts); corolla, tube-like, protruding, yellow, outer section hairy; stamens 2 fertile and protruding, 2 sterile hidden in corolla. SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Sanchezia speciosa.

Cook Islands Distribution

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

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Sanchezia parvibracteata Sprague & Hutchinson
SYNONYMS: Sanchezia nobilis [mistaken]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Scrophulariales; ACANTHACEAE

IDENTIFICATION: An erect shrub to 2m. Young STEMS smooth, 4 rounded angles, purplish. LEAVES opposite, oval, 25x7cm, base tapering, tip tapering; glossy, dark green; midvein base reddish, veins white to yellow. FLOWERS erect terminal clusters to 15cm; bracts bright red, 15mm long; calyx 5 lobes, 20x6mm, yellow; corolla yellow, 3-5cm tube with 5 short lobes, basal-half hairless, upper-half densely covered with yellowish hairs; stamens 2 fertile, 2 sterile (staminodes, ~15mm).

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM04b, zD02, zupD04a

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