Cuphea ignea A.DC., Lythraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Parsonia ignea (A. DC) Standl.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: cigar flower, firecracker plant

French: herbe cigarette, herbe piment

Hawaiian: kīkā, pua kīkā

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Spreading shrubs; stems 3-5 dm long, many-branched, subglabrous.  Leaves lanceolate to narrowly ovate or elliptic, 20-45 mm long, 5-12 mm wide, apex acuminate, base narrowly cuneate, petioles 1-7 mm long.  Flowers solitary in the leaf axils, pedicels 5-10 mm long; floral tube scarlet, white, subcylindrical, with a conspicuous subglobose spur, slightly falcate, 20-25 mm long; calyx teeth spreading, the lower ones slightly longer; petals absent; stamens conspicuously exserted unevenly 2-4 mm beyond the floral tube.  Capsules oblong-ovoid, 8-10 mm long.  Seeds reddish brown, suborbicular, ca. 2 mm in diameter"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 866).

Habitat/ecology:  Cultivated and sparingly naturalized in Hawai‘i (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 866).

Propagation:  Seed (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 866).

Native range:  Mexico (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 866).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1985) (pp. 284-285) Voucher cited: DA 3006
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 866) Sparingly naturalized.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Trè's envahissant"

Additional information:  Factsheet from Floridata.

Additional online information about Cuphea ignea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Cuphea ignea may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Smith, Albert C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 3. 758 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).