Medinilla magnifica Lindl., Melastomataceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 8 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: chandelier tree, Malaysian orchid, Malaysian orchid medinilla, showy medinilla, showy melastome

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Scandent epiphytic glabrous shrub, 1-2 (-3) m high.  Branches quadrangular, compressed, distinctly winged, 10 mm in diameter; nodes densely setose, tufted with brownish stiff bristles c. 10 mm long, soon deciduous with age.  Leaves opposite, sessile; blades thickly coriaceous, elliptic to oblong, 30-34 (-45) cm long, 14-26 (-18) cm wide; apices acute; bases obtuse to shortly attenuate; 9-plinerved; occasionally 11-plinerved and if so, the marginal pair evanescent;  nerves flattened adaxially, slightly raised abaxially; transverse veins faintly distinct adaxially, absent abaxially.  Inflorescences terminal, many-flowered, pendulous, pink panicles 27-35 (-40) cm long, more or less fleshy; peduncles stout, fleshy, 10-15 (-18) cm long; secondary branches in whorls of 4; bracts spreading, elliptic-ovate, 60-80 (-100) mm long, 40-50 mm wide, acute at tip, reticulately veined; paired at the proximal end; whorled at the distal end, pink, persistent; bracteoles minute, subulate, caducous; pedicels slender, terete, 5-10 mm long.  Flowers 5-merous.  Hypanthium campanulate, 7-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, pinkish red, flared at the rim, denticulate.  Petals ovate, 15 mm long, 8 mm wide, membranous, dotted, pink.  Stamens equal; filaments flattened, 10 mm long; anthers rostrate, 10-12 mm long.  Fruits subglobose, bright pink to dark red when ripe, 6-7 mm in diameter; stalks terete, 10 mm long" (Regalado, 1995; p. 133).

"Evergreen shrub or epiphyte to ca. 3 m tall, with 4-angled or 4-winged branches, with a dense ring of short fleshy processes at the joints between the leaves; leaves opposite, sessile, mainly 15-30 cm long, ovate or ovate-oblong, entire, strongly veined, the veins converging toward the apex; flowers coral read, ca. 2.5 cm wide, in pendulous pyramidal panicles to 30 cm long, verticillate, having showy, whorled or opposite pinkish bracts ca. 2.5-10 cm long; petals 5; anthers purple, the filaments yellow" (Welsh, 1998; p. 181).

Habitat/ecology:  Rain forest epiphyte. In its native habitat in the Philippines, "in lowland dipterocarp forests between 300-500 m, in lower montane forests at 400-1000 m, or in cloud belt mossy forests up to 1400 m altitude" (Regalado, 1995; p. 133).

Propagation:  Seed, probably distributed by birds.

Native range:  Philippine Islands

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 181) Voucher cited: BRY 24828
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 2579 (PAP) Ornementale peu commune à Tahiti.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby (2010) (p. 42) Voucher cited: K. Bio, J. Parker & R. McGuire BIED9 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 909)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island		Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim (year unknown)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Daehler, Curtis C./Baker, Raymond F. (2006) (p. 15) Voucher cited: K. Nagata 216 (HLA)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2007) (p. 10) Voucher cited: J. Fisher OISCA8 (BISH)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 909)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 199) Often common in damp primary forests at low and medium altitudes.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 59) Cultivated only

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

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

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

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

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.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex. 2007. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2006. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:8-13.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 3 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 628 pp.

Parker, James L./Parsons, Bobby. 2010. New plant records from the Big Island for 2008. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2008. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 107:41-43.

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

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).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.