Medinilla cummingii Naudin, Melastomataceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 6 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: medinilla

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Scandent epiphytic glabrous shrub, 1-2 (-3) m high.  Branches terete to subquadrangular, not winged, 4-5 cm in diameter at base; nodes setose, the bristles coarse, yellowish-brown, persistent.  Leaves ternate or quaternate, occasionally opposite near the base, shortly petiolate; petioles stout, 5 mm long or less; blades coriaceous, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 15-22 (-26) cm long, 8-10 (-14) cm wide; apices acute to shortly acuminate; bases shortly attenuate, 5- to 7-plinerved; nerves faintly distinct adaxially, absent abaxially; transverse veins faintly visible on both surfaces.  Inflorescences terminal or axillary, many-flowered, pendant panicles, up to 25 cm long; peduncles 8-10 cm long; the branches in whorls of 4; bracts elliptic-ovate, acuminate at tip, 15-20 (-30) mm long, 5-10 mm wide, persistent; bracteoles minute, subulate, 1 mm long, persistent; pedicels slender, 4-5 mm long.  Flowers 4-merous.  Hypanthia campanulate, 4 mm long, 3 mm wide, pink or purple, denticulate.  Petals obliquely ovate, 7 mm long, 5 mm wide, pink.  Stamens equal; filaments flattened, 4 mm long; anthers dark pink, curved, 5 mm long.  Fruits subglobose, 5-7 mm in diameter, pink to purplish to bluish-black when ripe; stalks terete, 5-7 mm long" (Regalado, 1995).

"Shrub to 8' tall, with square stems, opposite 6-15" leathery leaves lacking stalks, 1/2" bracts below the flower clusters, 1" pink flowers, and 1/4" purple-black fruits with a white tip" (Hawaii's Most Invasive Horticultural Plants).

Habitat/ecology:  Moist and wet forests at low elevations. (Hawaii‘s Most Invasive Horticultural Plants).  In the Philippines, "in mossy forest at 700-1000 m altitude" (Regalado, 1995).

Propagation:  "The small dark fruit is eaten by birds, containing many dozens of small seed per fruit. Dispersal capabilities are probably comparable to Miconia [calvescens] and 100,000 of seeds are produced per flowering event." (O‘ahu Invasive Species Committee)

Native range:  Philippines (O‘ahu Invasive Species Committee)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2004) (p. 13) East Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H60205 (BISH, PTBG) Mostly epiphytic (to 6 m high) on mossy, alien tree species.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Daehler, Curtis C./Baker, Raymond F. (2006) (p. 15) Vouchers cited: C. Daehler 1309 (HAW), Spence 392 (HLA)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009) Celebes

Comments:  Listed on some web sites as Medinilla cumingii.

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

Information about Medinilla cummingii as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

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

References:

Daehler, Curtis C./Baker, Raymond F. 2006. New records of naturalized and naturalizing plants around Lyon Arboretum, Mānoa Valley, O‘ahu. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004-2005. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 87:3-18.

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.

Regalado, J. C., Jr. 1995. Revision of the Philippines Medinilla (Melastomataceae). Blumea 40(1).

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.