Justicia carnea Lindley, Acanthaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Jacobinia carnea Hooker

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Brazilian plume, flamingo flower, jacobinia, pink plume-flower

Spanish: vara de la justicia

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Shrub 1-2 m tall, stems squarish and tending to be grooved, thinly to moderately tomentose, young growth tomentose; leaves large, to 30 x 10 cm or even longer, ovate, strongly but gradually acuminate, base obtuse, then abruptly decurrent for some distance on petiole, under surface thinly puberulent, especially on nerves, much less so on upper surface, petioles 3-10 cm long, usually wide-spreading; spikes terminal, very showy, up to 12 (-15) cm long, to 9 cm wide, in very luxuriant specimens tending to be inconspicuously paniculate, bracts overlapping foliaceous, to 3 x 1.5 cm, smaller upward, lower ones tending to be acuminate, upper rounded at apex, tomentulose on nerves, bracteoles linear, ciliate, 1-2 cm long; calyx divided almost to base, lobes 5, linear-lanceolate, somewhat unequal, up to 9 mm long, ciliate towards the acute apex; corolla pink to rose-purple, about 6 cm long, straight or slender, slightly ampliate upward, upper lip erect, curved over the anthers at tip, apex only minutely notched or not at all, lower lip reflexed to almost a right-angle, clawed, claw about 6-7 mm, limb expanded, oblong-obovate and deeply trilobed and recurved, the whole corolla thinly glandular-pilose; stamens not quite equaling corolla, filaments strongly curved at summit, anthers broadly oblong, somewhat curved, about 2-5 mm long, dark purple, cells slightly offset, style tip slightly exerted from upper lobe, stigma only very slightly enlarged; capsule not seen" (Fosberg et al., 1993; pp. 33-34).

Habitat/ecology:  "Moist, well-drained soils in sunny or partially shaded places are preferred" (Whistler, 2000; p. 292).

Propagation:  (no propagation information known by PIER)

Native range:  Brazil and neighboring areas.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2000) (p. 89) "Potential invader", lowlands. Adventive per Bill Sykes.
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Sykes, Bill (year unknown)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1930) (voucher ID: BISH 127617) Taxon name on voucher: Justicia carnea Lindley
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Fiji Islands		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1927) (voucher ID: BISH 17341) Taxon name on voucher: Justicia carnea Lindley
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1955) (voucher ID: BISH 127616) Taxon name on voucher: Justicia carnea Lindley
French Polynesia Tubuai (Austral) Islands	Tubuai (Tupuai) Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1992) (voucher ID: BISH 643729) Taxon name on voucher: Justicia carnea Lindley
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 141)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2004) (p. 9) East Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H110210 (BISH, PTBG)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (pp. 8-9) Vouchers cited: Baudouin 311, de Pompéry s.n., MacKee 21968

Additional information:  Additional online information about Justicia carnea is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1927. Voucher specimen #BISH 17341 (Gillespie, J.W. 2806).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1930. Voucher specimen #BISH 127617 (Wilder, G.P. 800).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1955. Voucher specimen #BISH 127616 (Barrau, J. 466).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1992. Voucher specimen #BISH 643729 (Florence 11126).

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 1998. Mécanismes et gestion des invasions biologiques par des plantes introduites dans des forêts naturales à Hawai‘i et Polynésie Française: une étude de cas [Mechanisms and management of biological invasions by alien plants in Hawaiian and French Polynesian natural forests: a case study]. Dèlégation à la Recherche, B.P. 20981 Papeete, Tahiti, Polynésie Française. Unpublished report.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2004. New Hawaiian plant records for 2003. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 79:8-20.

Sykes, Bill. 0. Bill Sykes, pers. com.

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

Whistler, W. A. 2000. Tropical ornamentals: a guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 542 pp.