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Talinum paniculatum

Pī Mōrī (MK)

Pink Flameflower

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Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves with flower-head and fruit	63KB
Image:	Leaves and fruits	86KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Pink Flameflower, Jewels-of-Opar, Black Root

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pī (RR), Pī Ma‘uke (MG AK), Pī ‘Enua / Pī (AT), Pī Mōrī (MK), Pī Vai-rākau (MT), Tala Pī (TS), Tara Pī (TW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Caribbean - sw.USA; EXOTIC circumtropical weed

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine

KEY FEATURES: Erect herb to 80cm. Leaves alternate, fleshy and oval to 11x5cm. Minute flowers on slender much-branched structure. Fruits reddish, round, 3mmØ. Native of Caribbean - sw.USA.

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

Talinum paniculatum (N.Jacquin)
SYNONYMS: Portulaca paniculatum; Talinum patens

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); CARYOPHYLLIDAE; Caryophyllales; PORTULACACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -. Comment: NBSAP - Mauke (5 of 9 domestic plants)
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Medicine

IDENTIFICATION: Erect fleshy herb to 80cm (flowering). ROOTS thick trunk-like. LEAVES alternate, fleshy, oval to 11x5cm, edges smooth, tip acute. FLOWERS on slender branching sruture to 50cm; petals pink to 4mm, stamens 5-15. CAPSULES reddish, globose, 3mmØ, 3 valves. SEEDS glossy black, 1mm long.

GENERAL NOTE: Naturalised in Fiji (A.C.Smith, Flora), Hawaii - cultivated and sparingly naturalised, first collection 1979 (Wagner, et.al. Manual)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1075 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.343 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.2/279 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.390a 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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