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Hippobroma longiflora

Star-of-Bethlehem

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Star-of-Bethlehem, Horse Poison, Madam Fate, Madamfate, Star Flower; French Etoile de Bethléem

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Caribbean; EXOTIC EXOTIC circumtropical, incl. South Pacific

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands - inland valleys

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Sap is very toxic, a skin irritant, and can casue blindness.

KEY FEATURES: Fleshy herb, 0-few branches, to 50cm. SAP white, very toxic and a skin irritant. LEAVES alternate, narrow-oval, to 20x7cm, dark green; teeth well-spaced, large, sharp; tip sharp; stalk very short. FLOWERS axillary, 1-3, ascending; corolla white, a slender tube, to 130x3mm(LxØ), with 5 lobes, not evenly spaced; lobes narrow-oval, ~25x6mm, tip sharp. FRUIT a capsule, cylindric, to 3x1cm(LxØ), green, hanging when mature, splits to release countless tiny seeds.

Enlarged Image of 'Hippobroma longiflora'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Hippobroma longiflora (Linnaeus)
SYNONYMS: Isotoma longiflora(L.) K. Presl ; Lobelia longiflora Linnaeus, 1753; Laurentia longiflora (L.) Peterm.

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Campanulales; CAMPANULACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: This plant contains the alkaloid lobeline, and is extremely poisonous to stock. (Arnold 1968)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.472 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.818 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.616 Tropica
p.5/245 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

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

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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