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Macfadyena unguis-cati

Cat's-claw Climber

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Image:	Leaves and flower	57KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Cat's-claw Climber, Cat's-claw; German Katzenkralle

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Caribbean - S.America

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised (?naturalised Arorangi); Land, lowlands, gardens, lower inland slopes in Arorangi

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers; Weed - serious (Arorangi)

KEY FEATURES: LF opp., cpd., LFT 1 pair, thin, 7cm, central tendril split into 3 claws. FL clusters, yellow, trumpet, 10cmØ

Enlarged Image of 'Macfadyena unguis-cati'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
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

Macfadyena unguis-cati Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Doxantha unguis-cati; Bignonia unguis-cati; Bignonia tweediana

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Scrophulariales; BIGNONIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Ornamental flowers
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - serious (Arorangi). Comments: Potential weed on Rarotonga; extensive, but localised, on west Sanitorium Hill (2001, GMcC). In Wingham Brush (NSW) the tropical forest was collapsing because of Cat's-claw Climber, Grand Balloon-Vine and Madeira Vine excluding sunlight, and root competition, especially from the abundant tubers of the Cat's-claw Climber.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, Ruatonga Meeting, 11/2002, GMcC.

References:
p.763 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.183 Tropica

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