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Sida rhombifolia

Purūmu

Broom Weed

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Two forms - large-leaved & small-leaved	40KB
Image:	Leaves, flower, fruit and seeds	40KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Broom Weed, Cuba jute, Tall-flower Sida, Paddy's Lucerne, Queensland Hemp

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Purūmu (RR MG AT MK MT AK TW RK), Pulūmu (TS); Other Polynesian - Mautofu (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE pantropical

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group - very common; N.Group - common; Land, lowlands - mountains (++++)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Material (Fibre?); Weed - serious

KEY FEATURES: Wayside weedy erect shrub to 1.5m, with two forms: large leaves (to 10x6cm), and small leaves (to 5x2cm). LEAVES variable; alternate, oval to rhomboid, conspicuously toothed; top dark green, bottom pale. FLOWERS axillary, solitary, open mid-morning, 15mmØ; sepals 5, leaf-like, green, wide-oval, tip sharp; petals 5, pale orange with 2 unequal lobes; stalk long, 1-4cm. FRUIT 9-12 radial segments; ripen hard and brown with a beak.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Sida rhombifolia Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Sida rhombifolia rhombifolia

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); DILLENIIDAE; Malvales; MALVACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Material (Fibre?)
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - serious. Comments: A strong woody shrub with a very strong root system. Very persistent and difficult to remove. Grows in waste areas, fallow areas and within crops.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: fieldspecimen+photo, 1980s, G.McCormack with ID as Sida rhombifolia.

References:
p.898 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.553 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.2/437 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.273 R* Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.74 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.395d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05azD05a

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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