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Cenchrus echinatus

Piripiri

Burr Grass

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Image:	Leaf and flowers	59KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Burr Grass, Sandburr grass

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Piripiri (RR MG AK PL TW MH RK), Pārango (AT MK), Pārango Tītā (MT), Pilipili (TS PK NS); Other Polynesian - Tuitui / Vao Tuitui / Sefa (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE tropical America

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands - mountains (++++)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine; Serious agricultural weed, serious lawn weed

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Cenchrus echinatus Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); COMMELINIDAE; Cyperales; POACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Medicine
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Serious agricultural weed, serious lawn weed. Comments: Rated as a most serious weed on all islands in the Southern Group, and known to be serious on some Northern Atolls. Widespread on all lowland soils, fast growing, difficult to control, painful to touch.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Cenchrus echinatus.

References:
p.1512 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.76 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.1/356 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.303 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.17 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.390f Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM04b

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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