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Polyscias guilfoylei

Kāpaiē

Wild Coffee Panax

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Image:	Basic form, cv.'Laciniata', and cv.'Crispa'	82KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Wild Coffee Panax, False Coffee, Geranium Aralia

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kāpaiē (RR MG AT MT AK PL TS TW MH RK PK NS), Kaope Pā (MK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia? - Vanuatu?

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands - mountains (+)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental Leaf-H, Medicine

KEY FEATURES: An erect shrub with vertical branches, to 5m. LEAVES alternate, to 50cm with 3-13 primary leaflets; LEAFLETS per cultivars. cv. 'Guilfoylei', large, to 15cm, oval to wide-oval, irregular spiny teeth, green, ± cream mottled margins. 'Laciniata' subdivided into small leaflets, to 6x5cm, sharp teeth, ~ white margin. 'Crispa' leaflets small, very buckled, sharp teeth. FLOWERS not present on Rarotonga.

SIMILAR SPECIES: 'Laciniata' is similar to Polyscias fruticosa, see under that species.

Enlarged Image of 'Polyscias guilfoylei'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Polyscias guilfoylei (Bull)
SYNONYMS: Aralia guilfoylei; Nothopanax guilfoylei; Polyscias paniculata [of hort.]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Apiales; ARALIACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Extensively used for hedges.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Polyscias guilfoylei.

References:
p.656 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.899 Hortus 3rd
p.919 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.142 Tropica
p.3/638 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.85 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.366d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM05a, 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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