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Spathodea campanulata

Kō‘ī‘ī

African Tulip-tree

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Flowers and leaves	66KB
Image:	Leaves and flowers	72KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: African Tulip-tree, Flame-of-the-Forest, Fountain Tree, Fire Tree, Flame Tree, Tulip Tree; German Afrikanischer Tulpenbaum; French Tulipier de Gabon

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kō‘ī‘ī (RR AK), Pātītī Vai (AT), Tiale Akapisipisi (TS), Tiare Akapisipisi (TW); COMMENT: Kō‘ī‘ī means to squirt, because the buds can be used to squirt water.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent (c.1920), Naturalised; Land, lowlands - mountains (++++)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers; Invasive - serious, Weed - moderate

KEY FEATURES: Erect tree to 25m. LEAVES opposite, compound. LEAFLETS opposite+one, 7-17; elliptic 15x6cm, dark green, edge smooth; stalklets 3mm. FLOWER corolla bright red-orange, 12cm, lobes with wavy yellow edge. FRUIT woody capsule, canoe-like, 22x5cm. SEEDS countless, flat, winged.

Enlarged Image of 'Spathodea campanulata'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

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

Spathodea campanulata P.Beauv.
SYNONYMS: Spathodea nilotica Seem.

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Scrophulariales; BIGNONIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Ornamental flowers
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Invasive - serious, Weed - moderate. Comments: One of world's 100 invasive alien species [ISSG,2001].

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.388 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.769 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.1062 Hortus 3rd
p.1103 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.188 Tropica
p.5/145 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.97 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.388g Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.97 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, 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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