Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

Species Page

Back to: «« Search Page | « Results Page

Add to My List

Codiaeum variegatum

Kaitava

Variegated Croton

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves, flowers, and fruit	89KB
Image:	Two types of leaves, and male flowers	69KB
Image:	Fruit and flowers (female and male)	56KB
Image:	Furrowed leaves	50KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Variegated Croton, Croton Shrub; German Wunderstrauch

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kaitava (RR MG AT MK MT AK TS TW MH RK PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia - New Guinea - Vanuatu - ?Fiji

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands - mountains (++) (low elev.)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental Leaf-H, Medicine

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
+	++?	++?	++	-	-

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

Codiaeum variegatum (Linnaeus)
SYNONYMS: Codiaeum variegatum var. variegatum; Croton variegatum; Croton pictum

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Euphorbiales; EUPHORBIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Ornamental Leaf-H, Medicine. Comments: Common in hedges, and formerly used to mark track-junctions in inland Rarotonga.

GENERAL NOTE: A.C.Smith suggests that the naturalized green form is native from Indonesia to Queensland, Vanuatu and Fiji, although it may be an aboriginal introduction in Fiji. He concludes that the cultivated variegated form was either an aboriginal introduction to Fiji or an early post-contact introduction. [Flora Vitiensis Nova]

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, uncommon in the villages, ID GMcC.

References:
p.510 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.272 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.410 Tropica
p.2/550 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.295 A Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.66 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.364e Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM04b, 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.
Please refer to our use policy.

Biodiversity Database: More Options | Help

My List: View List | Edit List | Clear List