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Bougainvillea Xbuttiana

Tāria

Bougainvillea

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Bougainvillea, Red Bougainvillea, Purple Bougainvillea, Double-bracted Bougainvillea; German Bougainvillie, Drillingsblume; French Bougainvillée

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tāria (RR MG MT TW MH RK), Tiare Taratara (AT), ‘Ītāria (MK AK), Bougainvillia (PL), Tālia (TS); Other Polynesian - Felila (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE originally a natural hybrid in Cartagena (Colombia); EXOTIC EXOTIC circumtropical

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; S.Group - common; N.Group - rare; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers; Poisonous spines

KEY FEATURES: Open-branching shrub, or vine to 15m. STEMS without hairs or slight hairiness. SPINES strong, ~straight. LEAVES alternate, wide-oval, large, to 12x8cm, tip narrow abruptly; dull, uniformly green or variegated; minimal hairyness (like glabra); side redces below the flowers. BRACTS large, to 4x3cm, hart-shaped with tip rounded; not wrinkled; white tinged pink, yellow-orange, pink, red. FLOWER petals cream or pinkish. Cultivars both single and 'double' flowered, leaves uniform or variegated.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Bougainvillea spectabilis has hairy stems, spines, leaves, and flower tube. Bougainvillea glabra leaves widest near middle, minimal hairiness, bracts tip acute, bracts white or mauve to purple.

Enlarged Image of 'Bougainvillea Xbuttiana'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++	P	P	P	-	-

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

Bougainvillea Xbuttiana Holttum & Standley 1947
SYNONYMS: Bougainvillea glabra X Bougainvillea peruviana

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); CARYOPHYLLIDAE; Caryophyllales; NYCTAGINACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Named in honour of Captain Bougainville the first Frenchman to cross the Pacific, and first collected by his botanist in South America. In their native range bougainvilleas are pollinated by hummingbirds. The many cultivars are hybrids and 'sports' of hybrids. The hybrids are produced by manual cross-pollination, and mutations or 'sports' for flower colour, flower 'doubleness', and for variegated leaves

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldview, 2/2004, G.McCormack probably Bougainvillea Xbuttiana - needs checking.

References:
p.174 Hortus 3rd
p.161 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.690 Tropica
p.49 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.400g Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

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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