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Taeniophyllum fasciola

Leafless Orchid

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Image:	Flowers, fruit and roots	46KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Leafless Orchid

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Solomons - Societies - Pitcairn; n. to Guam; s. to New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group only - common; Land, coastal to mountains (++++), on trees

KEY FEATURES: Prostrate mass of radiating and entangling roots, to 20cmØ, without leaves. ROOTS flat, green, to 150x3mm(LxW). FLOWERS on erect stalk to 2cm; each small, to 5mmØ, pale yellow to green. FRUIT (=capsule), slender-ovoid, to 20x5mm, 6-ribbed.

Enlarged Image of 'Taeniophyllum fasciola'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Taeniophyllum fasciola (G.Forster)
SYNONYMS: Taeniophyllum seemannii; Taeniophyllum decipiens; Taeniophyllum asperulum [sensu TC/GW]; Epidendrum; Vanilla

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Orchidales; ORCHIDACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Used medinially in Fiji for back pain and abdominal pain. Known as Nde ni thauthau ("dust of the land breeze") [Smith's Flora 1991].

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
Special Reference: Detailed in Lewis & Cribb (1989) Orchids of Vanuatu, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew; and in Smith (1991) Flora Vitiensis Nova, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai.

p.753 Tropica
p.5/559 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.297 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.37 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02, zupD06a

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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