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Operculina turpethum

Ta‘uri‘au (MK)

Winged-stem Morning-glory

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Winged-stem Morning-glory, St Thomas Lidpod

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ta‘uri‘au (MK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Africa - s.Asia - n.Australia - Tonga - ?Cooks - ?Marquesas

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine; Weed - moderate

KEY FEATURES: Prostrate or scrambling vine. STEMS green, 3-5 wings. LEAVES alternate, variable heart-shaped, to 20x20cm, tip acute; surface hairy. FLOWER axillary clusters of 1-3 on stalk to 15cm; bracts, 2, hairy, to 3cm long, soon shed; sepals, 5, glossy, tinged pink, to 3cm long; corolla white, funnel-like spreading to 5cmØ. FRUIT translucent capsule with 2-4 cells, each with one seed; bracketed by papery sepals. SEEDS black, 6mmØ.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Ventricose Morning-glory (Operculina ventricosa, aka Operculina turpethum var. ventricosa) has stems round and wingless (vs. winged); leaf-tip obtuse with slender extension (vs. acute); bracts larger, to 4cm long (vs. to 3cm); seeds larger, to 10mmØ (vs. to 7mmØ)

Enlarged Image of 'Operculina turpethum'

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

Operculina turpethum Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Ipomoea turpethum; Convolvulus turpethum

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Solanales; CONVOLVULACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Medicine
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - moderate. Comments: A moderate weed in waste and fallow areas.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.710 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.5/045 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03a, zD02, zupD04b

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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