Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)

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Solandra maxima
(Sesse & Moc.) P.S.Green, Solanaceae
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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 3 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Solandra hartwegii N.E. Br.; Solandra nitida Zucc.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: chalice vine, cup of gold, gold cup

Spanish: copa de oro, pera tetona, tetona

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Straggling and scrambling, wide-ranging, stout evergreen shrub; shoots glabrous.  Leaf lamina broadly elliptic, (7-) 9-14 (-18) cm long, (3.5-) 5-8 (-11) cm broad, obtuse to broadly cuneate at base, entire, obtuse to shortly acuminate at apex, thickish.  Flowers sweet scented; pedicel stout, 1-2 cm long.  Calyx tubular, 5-7 cm long, unequally divided, (3-) 5-lobed.  Corolla 16-24 cm long, somewhat cup-shaped, 10-13 cm diam., with a relatively narrow tube, golden yellow with 5 purplish brown lines inside; lobes 5-8 cm long, becoming rolled back.  Filaments 9-10 cm long; anthers versatile.  Style 20-25 cm long; stigma capitate.  Berry conoid, 4-5 cm long"  (Orchard, 1994; p. 303).

"A large, smooth, woody, climbing shrub...  Leaves are oblong, entire, pointed or blunt, smooth, 2 to 6 inches long.  The rather short-lived flowers are borne singly at branch tips, have a goblet-shaped corolla with five broad, shallow lobes, are yellow becoming brownish yellow, marked longitudinally with five narrow purple streaks, and are about 9 inches long.  The calyx is two- to five-lobed and about 3 inches long.  The flowers have as sweet, mellow, more or less pleasing odor"  (Neal, 1965; p. 748).

Habitat/ecology:  Dry to moist forests and open areas. In New Caledonia, "liane ornementale assez commune dans les jardins de Nouméa" (MacKee, 1994; pp. 131-132).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, now widely planted in tropical and subtropical gardens.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands)
Norfolk Islands
Norfolk Island introduced
invasive
cultivated
Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 10)
"An escape from cultivation". Voucher cited: W.R. Sykes NI 644 (CHR)
Cook Islands
Southern Cook Islands
Aitutaki Atoll cultivated
Tschan, Bill (year unknown)
Cook Islands
Southern Cook Islands
Mangaia Island introduced
cultivated
Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 89)
Cook Islands
Southern Cook Islands
Rarotonga Island cultivated
Sykes, Bill (year unknown)
Cook Islands
Southern Cook Islands
Rarotonga Island   Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1991) (voucher ID: BISH 665153)
Taxon name on voucher: Solandra maxima (Sesse & Moc.) P.S.Green
Fiji
Fiji Islands
Viti Levu Island introduced
cultivated
Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 34-35)
Fiji
Fiji Islands
Viti Levu Island   Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1960) (voucher ID: BISH 33910)
Taxon name on voucher: Solandra maxima (Sesse & Moc.) P.S.Green
French Polynesia
Society Islands
Tahiti Island introduced
cultivated
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
Voucher cited: J. Florence 4656 (PAP)
Cultivée. Assez rare.
French Polynesia
Austral (Tubuai) Islands
Rurutu Island introduced
cultivated
Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013)
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands   Neal, Marie C. (1965)
New Caledonia
New Caledonia Archipelago
Île Grande Terre introduced
cultivated
MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 132)
Voucher cited: MacKee 20666
Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Costa Rica (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Guatemala (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Honduras (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Nicaragua (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Panama (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico (United Mexican States) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Seychelles
Seychelles Islands
Seychelles Islands introduced
Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Comments:  Naturalizes to some extent in Hawai‘i. Escape from cultivation on Norfolk Island.

Control:  If you know of control methods for Solandra maxima, please let us know.


Need more info? Have questions? Comments? Information to contribute? Contact PIER! (pier@hear.org)

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This page was created on 1 JAN 1999 and was last updated on 25 OCT 2006.