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Phyllanthus tenellus

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Image:	Leaves, flowers and fruit	54KB

General Information

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Mascarene Islands

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

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Weed - minor

KEY FEATURES: Annual woody herb to 80cm. STEM round. LEAVES alternate, oval, to 20x10mm; stalk to 1mm. FLOWERS separate sexes on same plant (monoecious); MALE stalk to 1.5mm; petals 5, round, overlapping; FEMALE STALK TO 6mm, petals 5, narrow-oval. FRUIT depressed-globose, 2mmØ, explosive. SEEDS low pustules in longitudinal rows.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See Phyllanthus amarus.

Enlarged Image of 'Phyllanthus tenellus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Phyllanthus tenellus W.Roxburgh 1832
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Euphorbiales; EUPHORBIACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Weed - minor. Comments: A small, fast-growing and persistent weed in gardens. Not a problem in cropping larger plants.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: Ambala Garden, with B.Sykes 2000, ID B.Sykes. Mangaia: fieldspecimen+photo, Nursery and inland road, NBSAP 2000 & 9/2001, ID GM.

References:
p.628 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM03a, 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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