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Balanophora wilderi

Rarotonga Balanophora

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Image:	Overview and detail	53KB
Image:	2 fertile stems; male flowers open	63KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Rarotonga Balanophora

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cook Islands (Rarotonga)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Endemic of Cooks, 1-island; Land, mountains (+), parasite tree roots, c.300m; parasitic on Ficus

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Globally endangered (seriously)

KEY FEATURES: Parasitic herb on roots of Ficus, and possibly other trees. ROOTS (=rhizome) form an irregular lumpy mass, 5cmØ. FERTILE STEMS erect, to 7x1cm, with fleshy oblong leaves and terminal flower-knob (=spadix); FLOWERS unisexual, female below, male terminal; FEMALE minute; MALE larger than females, among thick bracts, petals 3-5, anthers fused with 8-13 pollen chambers.

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

Balanophora wilderi Setchell 1931
SYNONYMS: Acroblastum wilderi (Setch.) Setch. 1935

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Santalales; BALANOPHORACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
BIODIVERSITY: Globally endangered (seriously). Comment: Known from very few collections at mid-elevation in inland Rarotonga.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen, ne Te Manga track c.300m in Homalium forest above massive waterfall, 8/1975, B.Sykes; specimen, upper Taipara, 8/1982, B.Sykes and E.Cameron; fieldspecimen+photo, track to Te Manga, above waterfall, c.1984, A.Grosse, photo GMcCormack.

References:
p.47 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, 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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