General Information

COMMON NAMES: Pacific Pigweed TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pōkea ? (RR), Pōkea (AT MK AK), Pōkea Muramura (MT), Kātuli (TS), Kāturi (TW) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Micronesia - New Caledonia - Pitcairn COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, lowlands, on coral sands SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food (former Leaf and Root), Medicine KEY FEATURES: Weakly upright fleshy herb to 30cm. Stem red; leaves oval to 25x15mm. Flowers 1-3 in cluster; yellow; 20mmØ; petals 5 wide-obovate; stamens 20-50. The similar Weedy Pigweed is creeping and has only 7-15 stamens. SIMILAR SPECIES: Weedy Pigweed (Portulaca oleracea) has stamens 7-15 (vs 20-50) and fruit 4mm (vs. 7mm).. NOTE: Root and leaves used as food in ancient times.

Cook Islands Distribution

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

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

Portulaca lutea Sol. ex G.Forster
SYNONYMS: Portulaca johnii

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

IDENTIFICATION: Weakly upright herb, to 30cm. ROOT an edible tuber. STEM fleshy ± red. LEAVES alternate, fleshy, oval to wide-oval, to 25x15mm. FLOWERS 1-3, yellow; petals 5, obovate to 12mm long, stamens 20-50. FRUIT ovoid, 7mm long; tip opens to release tiny black seeds.

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1071 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.342 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.2/276 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.273 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.49 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.392d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

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

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