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Scaevola paulayi

Nga‘u

Creeping Half-flower

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Fruit, flower and leaves	55KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Creeping Half-flower, Prostrate Sea-lettuce Shrub, Creeping Scaevola

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kākākina (MG), Ngau (AT), Nga‘u (MK MT), Kōpara (AK), Ngashu (PL); Other Polynesian - To‘ito‘I (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Southern Polynesia (Niue - Cooks - Tuamotu)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Endemic of se.Polynesia; S.Group - widespread and common, but absent Rarotonga; NGroup absent; Land, coastal, coralline soils

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine???

KEY FEATURES: A prostrate coastal shrub with short uprights of freshy leaves linked by thin horizontal runner-stems with few leaves. Flowers yellow (???sometimes white) with white fruit.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
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

Scaevola paulayi
SYNONYMS: Scaevola taccada var. tuamotuensis

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Campanulales; GOODENIACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mitiaro: fieldspecimen, 2005/10, widespread, J.Game ID as this species based on info from G.McCormack.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, zB02, zupB05b, zM04b, 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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