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Salvia coccinea

Tītānia (MG)

Red Sage

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Red Sage, Red Salvia, Scarlet Sage, Texas Sage

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tītānia (MG); COMMENT: Tītānia from zizania, a Bibilical term for various weeds.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE tropical America (s.USA, Mexico and/or Brazil)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group only (makatea islands only, very common on MG); Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Weed - minor

KEY FEATURES: Slender herb to 1m. Stems hairy. Leaves opposite, triangular to oval, 7x4cm, hairy, toothed; stalk slender, to 3cm. Flowers long terminal cluster; sepals/calyx green; petals/corolla red, tube to 15mm, upper lip 5mm; stamens protruding.

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

Salvia coccinea B.Juss. ex Murr.
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Lamiales; LAMIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - minor. Comments: Minor weed in waste places, sometimes very common (especially on Mangaia).

IDENTIFICATION: Annual or short-lived herb, ascending, to 1m. STEMS hairy. LEAVES opposite, triangular to oval, to 7x3cm, surfaces hairy esp. below, marginal teeth; stalk to 3cm. FLOWERS terminal long-cluster; bract green, 6mm, margin long-haired; sepals/calyx green or purple, 10mm, split 50%; petals/corolla red, tube 20mm, lips ~ 5mm; stamens protrude to 4mm. Several cvs.

GENERAL NOTE: This plant may be dangerous, and is said to cause abortion in cattle. (Arnold 1968)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.829 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.736 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.999 Hortus 3rd
p.1030 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.5/242 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.291 R* Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.95 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.404i Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

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