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Phaius tankervilleae

Nutupa

Giant Orchid

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Giant Orchid, Chinese Ground Orchid, Nun's Orchid, Nun's-hood Orchid

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Nutupa (RR)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE s.China - Indonesia - Australia - Cook Islands

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group only (Rarotonga & Mangaia only); Land, mountains (+++) (upland ridges, 200+m)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: An erect ground orchid with pleated leaves to 1m, arising basally from a very short stem. Flower-stalk basal, to 1.5m. Flowers, 4-15, large and showy, to 10cmØ; petals reddish- to yellowish-brown.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Phaius terrestris, when not flowering, differs in having leaves spaced along a long stem, and the flower-stalk is from a leave axil.

Enlarged Image of 'Phaius tankervilleae'

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

Phaius tankervilleae (Banks ex L'Her.)
SYNONYMS: Phaius grandifolius [incl. TC/GW]; Phaius blumei; Phaius incarvillei; Limodorum tankervilleae; Phaius tankarvilleae [misspelling, other misspellings include tankervillii; tankervilliae; tankervillei; tankcarvilliae and tancarvilleae. Named after the Countess of Tankerville.]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Orchidales; ORCHIDACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: fieldspecimen+photo, 2006/6, in upper valley ne.Rangimotia, G.McCormack with ID as Phaius tankervilleae.

References:
Special Reference: Detailed in Lewis & Cribb (1989) Orchids of Vanuatu, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew; and in Smith (1991) Flora Vitiensis Nova, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai.

p.1473 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.280 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.852 Hortus 3rd
p.870 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.748 Tropica
p.5/474 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.297 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.37 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.385b Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.55 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM04b, 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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