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Eichhornia crassipes

Riri Vai (MG)

Water Hyacinth

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Water Hyacinth, Lilac Devil; German Wasserhyazinthe; French Jacinthe d'eau

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Riri Vai (MG)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Brazil

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Freshwater, wetlands - ponds

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers; Weed - moderate, localised (Rarotonga only)

Enlarged Image of 'Eichhornia crassipes'

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

Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.)
SYNONYMS: Pontederia crassipes

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Liliales; PONTEDERIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Ornamental flowers
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - moderate, localised (Rarotonga only). Comments: One of world's 100 invasive alien species [ISSG,2001].

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1604 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.187 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.828 Tropica
p.1/175 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.29 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.398f Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

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

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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