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Pisonia grandis

Pukatea

Pisonia

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Image:	Leaves and fruit, and whole tree	85KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Pisonia

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pukatea (RR AT MK MT AK PL), Puka Avarua (MG), Puka / Pukatea (TS TW), Puka (MH RK PK NS); Other Polynesian - Pu‘avai (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Madagascar - Taiwan - n.Australia - Tuamotus

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Locally endangeredMedicine

KEY FEATURES: Tree with pale bark to 20m. LEAVES opposite sometimes alternate, simple, wide-oval, to 30x15cm, topside without hairs; stalk short to 3cm. FLOWERS unisexual on same tree or different, in terminal clusters; MALE tube green, slightly flaring; petals (=lobes) small, spreading, cream; stamens 5-6 slightly protruding; FEMALE tube green ovoid, 5 rows of black glands; lobes tapering, not spreading; stigma protruding. FRUIT (=anthocarp) cylindrical, ripening brown with 5 spiny ribs, sticky, to 2cm long.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++	+++	++++	++++	++++	P	++?	P	-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
+++	++?	P	+++	P	-

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

Pisonia grandis R.Br.
SYNONYMS: Ceodes umbraculifera [sensu GW]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); CARYOPHYLLIDAE; Caryophyllales; NYCTAGINACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
BIODIVERSITY: Locally endangered. Comment: Less than 5 trees known on Mangaia, 5/2000, believed to have once been much more common (Peter Ngatokorua, 2/2000).
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Medicine

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, near swamps and in reserves, ID GMcC.

References:
p.985 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.335 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.2/267 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.49 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.395a Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM04a

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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