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Morinda myrtifolia

Pirita Tūtae-puaka (AT)

Morinda-vine

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves, fruit, and flowers (1)	66KB
Image:	Leaves, flowers and fruit (2)	39KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Morinda-vine

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pirita Tūtae-puaka (MG AT MK MT)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE New Caledonia - Marquesas/Pitcairn & Henderson

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, mountains (++); open ridges

KEY FEATURES: Sprawling and climbing shrub to 5m. BRANCHES slender, to 2cmØ. LEAVES opposite, narrow-oval to oval, to 10x5cm, glossy green, base obtuse, tip sharp to obtuse, edge without teeth; swellings (domatia), often dark, in axils of veins to midrib; stalk to 2cm. FLOWERS 10-20 protruding from green sphere on long stalk; small; petals 4, cream, oval, fleshy. FRUIT (=syncarp) ~sphere, to 15mmØ, of irregular bulbous segments (=pyrenes), tips with pale circular markings; ripen purple-red.

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

Morinda myrtifolia A.Gray
SYNONYMS: Morinda forsteri; Morinda umbellata var. forsteri

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Rubiales; RUBIACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.4/337 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.391a Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.86 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a, zD06a

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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