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Pachystachys spicata

Cardinal's Guard

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and flowers	69KB
Image:	Bracts and flowers	45KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Cardinal's Guard

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE S.America

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; S.Group (RR only - rare); Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: Shrub to 2m. LEAVES opposite, glossy green, prominent veins, oval, to 30cm. FLOWERS opening in clusters along an erect terminal spike with overlapping green leaf-like bracts; bright red, a tube to 5cm with two central lobes at right angles; stamens 2, protruding.

Enlarged Image of 'Pachystachys spicata'

Cook Islands Distribution

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

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Pachystachys spicata (Ruiz & Pavon)
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Scrophulariales; ACANTHACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, Avarua, Theological College, 1990s, GM, ID GM from Whistler Trop. Ornamentals 2000:341.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB03a, zM03a, zupM03b, zD03a,

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.
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