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Asclepias physocarpa

Swan Plant

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Image:	Leaves, flowers and fruit	66KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Swan Plant, Balloon Cotton-bush, Balloon Plant

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE s.Africa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent (~1990), Naturalised (RR & MG); Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers; Invasive of farmland, Poisonous?

Enlarged Image of 'Asclepias physocarpa'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
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

Asclepias physocarpa (E.Mey.)
SYNONYMS: Gomphocarpus physocarpus

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Gentianales; ASCLEPIDACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Ornamental flowers
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Invasive of farmland, Poisonous?. Comments: Considered to be an invasive on Rarotonga, recognised as spreading around 2000 [pers.obs. G.McCormack]

GENERAL NOTE: This plant has been records as poisonous. (Arnold 1968)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.240 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.697 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.102 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.146 Tropica

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

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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