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Cleome speciosa

Spider Flower

Multimedia & Additional Resources

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Image:	Flowers, fruits, and leaves	88KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Spider Flower, Spider Flower

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Mexico - Peru

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Maintained; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: Erect, annual herb to 150cm, without hairs. STEM few-branched. LEAVES without spines at base; alternate, compound, palmate, 3-7 leaflets; LEAFLETS oval, to 15cm. FLOWERS strongly fragrant, showy, pink or white, in showy terminal clusters; petals 4, to 4cm; bracts leaf-like and undivided. FRUIT linear slender cylindrical capsule, to 8cm.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Cleome spinosa has paired spines at leaf-bases (vs. no spines), and leaves hairy and glandular (vs not hairy nor glandular).

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

Cleome speciosa Raf.
SYNONYMS: Gynandopsis speciosa

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); DILLENIIDAE; Capparales; CAPPARIDACEAE. COMMENT: This species is readily confused with Cleome spinosa, Cleome hassleriana, and Cleome gynandra.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.285 Hortus 3rd
p.266 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.2/700 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB04a, zM06a, zD04a

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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