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Myrsine cheesemanii

Ka‘ika Makatea (MT)

Cook Islands Myrsine

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and flowers, fruit	47KB
Image:	Branch, leaves and fruit	44KB
Image:	Fruit and leaves	53KB
Image:	Leaves and flowers	36KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Cook Islands Myrsine

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ka‘ika Makatea (MT); COMMENT: No Rarotonga name recorded Whistler and McCormack 1980s; Wilder (1932) recorded Tarairi; and Cheeseman (1903) recorded no name.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Mangaia, Ma‘uke, Miti‘āro)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Endemic of Cooks, 4-island; Land, mountains (+++) and makatea; mountains 100-550+m

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food (Fruit 0+) Outer

KEY FEATURES: Erect shrub to 3m. STEMS brittle. LEAVES alternate, narrow-oval (to oval), to 10x4cm, glossy dark green, midrib protruding ventrally, edge smooth, base tapering, tip acute (to round); stalk to 2-3cm. FLOWERS very small on the branches. FRUIT ~round, small, to 1cmØ; ripening purple.

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

Myrsine cheesemanii (Mez)
SYNONYMS: Rapanea cheesemanii [GW]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); DILLENIIDAE; Primulales; MYRSINACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Food (Fruit 0+) Outer. Comments: MATERIAL: Timber small, red, hard.

GENERAL NOTE: Fruit occasionally eaten on Miti'āro (GM).

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.286 IE Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.86 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.364c Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.121 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02, zupD05a

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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