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Eugenia uniflora

Venevene

Surinam Cherry

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and ripe fruit	51KB
Image:	Leaves and fruit development	42KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Surinam Cherry, Pitanga Cherry, Barbados Cherry; German Surinamkirsche, Pitanga

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Venevene (RR MK MT MH), Menemene (MG AK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Guiana - Brazil - Argentina

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, mountains (+++), valleys and low elevations

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food (Fruit 2+); Invasive - serious, Weed - serious

KEY FEATURES: Erect shrub, to 3m. LEAVES opposite, ovate to 7x4cm, glossy green, edge smooth, tip acute to blunt, base round; stalk to 4mm. FLOWERS axillary, 1-3, stalk to 4cm; 2cmØ, white; petals 4, round; stamens many, ~6mmL. FRUIT ~round, 3cmØ, conspicuously 8-ridged, sepals persistent; ripen dark red. SEED 1, large, to 15mmØ; flesh tart.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	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

Eugenia uniflora Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Eugenia michelii

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Myrtales; MYRTACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Food (Fruit 2+)
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Invasive - serious, Weed - serious. Comments: Locally very common in inland Rarotonga to about 200m elevation. Forms dense thickets. On farmland it is difficult to control.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.961 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.636 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.458 Hortus 3rd
p.460 Tropica
p.3/372 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.81 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.412d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.102 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, zD02, zupD05b

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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