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Tradescantia zebrina

Mauku Papa‘ā (MG)

Silvery Wandering-Jew

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Silvery Wandering-Jew, Mexican Wandering-Jew, Wandering Jew

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Mauku Papa‘ā (MG), Mauku (MK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Mexico

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

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental leaves

KEY FEATURES: Creeping herb with succulent brittle leaves. STEMS creeping, rooting at nodes. LEAVES narrow-oval tapering to a point, to 10x4cm; above bluish-green or purple with silvery central stripe, below ±purple. FLOWERS solitary, 2 boat-like bracts to 6cm, tube white to 10x1mm; 3 petals pink to purple to violet, to 10x7mm.

Enlarged Image of 'Tradescantia zebrina'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Tradescantia zebrina Hort. ex Bosse
SYNONYMS: Zebrina penula; Zebrina purpusii

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); COMMELINIDAE; Commelinales; COMMELINACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: fieldsight+photo, inner base of makatea, 10/2000, ID GMcC.

References:
p.183 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.305 Tropica
p.1/282 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.29 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.378g Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03b, zD02, zupD04a

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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