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Euphorbia pulcherrima

Tiare ‘Āpa-mata‘iti

Poinsettia

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Flowers and bract variation	54KB
Image:	Detail of flowers	59KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Poinsettia, Christmas Flower, Christmas Star, Mexican Flameleaf, Lobster Plant, Painted Leaf; German Weihnachtsstern

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tiare ‘Āpa-mata‘iti (RR MG AT MK MT AK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Mexico

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers; Poisonous?

KEY FEATURES: Winter-flowering shrub to 3m. LEAVES oval, lancelike or fiddlelike, to 15cm. FLOWERS terminal clusters; bracts leaf-like, reds, pinks or white; glands yellow. Many cultivars.

Enlarged Image of 'Euphorbia pulcherrima'

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

Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch
SYNONYMS: Poinsettia pulcherrima

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

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Like all euphorbiaceae, the white sap is likely to be poisonous and/or irritating to the skin and eyes. (Arnold 1968)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.518 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.464 Hortus 3rd
p.458 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.426 Tropica
p.2/569 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.294 R* Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.66 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.402d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03a, zupM04a, 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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