Rauvolfia vomitoria Afzelius, Apocynaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 21 (Go to the risk assessment).

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: cui tu luo fu mu

English: swizzle stick

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Shrub or tree 0.5-20(-40) m high; trunk 1-80 cm in diameter; bark smooth, striate or fissured, light to dark grey-brown or dark brown; wood light yellowish to white; branches pale to dark brown, or grey-brown, smooth, lenticellate; branchlets in whorls of 3-5, pale to greenish brown, smooth. Leaves in whorls of 3-5; blade elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 3.4-27 cm long, 2-9 cm wide, apiculate at the apex, acumen 1-18 mm long, glabrous, with 8-17 pairs of secondary veins; petiole 6-35 mm long. Inflorescence in whorls of 1-4, dense, 15-450-flowered, puberulous in all parts; peduncle 1.5-8.6 cm long; pedicels 1-4.5 mm long. Flowers fragrant; sepals ovate, 1-2.2 mm long, 0.9-2.1 mm wide, acute at the apex; corolla hypocrateriform, greenish white to yellow; tube 5.8-10(-12) mm long, glabrous outside, puberulous inside in 3 small belts; lobes dolabriform, 1.1-2.1 mm long, 1.1-4 mm wide, glabrous; stamens included, inserted at 4.3-7(-8.6) mm above the corolla base; disk 0.7-2 mm high, cupular; pistil (3.8-)4.2-9.2 mm long; ovary of two partly fused carpels, ovoid or cylindrical; style (2-)2.4-5.2 mm long; pistil head 0.5-1.2 mm long, stigmoid apex 0.1 mm long. Fruits bright orange or red, usually 1 mericarp developing, globose, ovoid or ellipsoid, 8-14 mm long, up to 9 mm in diameter; seeds ellipsoid, 6-8 mm long" (Flora of tropical East Africa on Aluka).

"Shrubs to 5 m tall, glabrous. Stems erect, stiff. Leaves whorled; leaf blade broadly ovate or ovate-elliptic, 5-12 x 3-6 cm; lateral veins 8-17 pairs. Cymes usually 4 together. Corolla greenish or pale green, tube subcylindric, 6-12 mm, inflated at throat, pubescent inside; lobes dolabriform, 1-2 mm. Stamens inserted at corolla throat; disc ringlike, shorter than ovaries. Ovaries distinct. Style filiform, pubescent at base; pistil head fleshy, base membranous. Drupes 2, distinct, ovoid or ellipsoid, 0.8-1.4 cm x 6-9 mm"  (Flora of China online).

"Rauvolfia vomitoria is a shrub or small tree up to 8 m. Older parts of the plant contain no latex. The branches are whorled and the nodes enlarged and lumpy.  Leaves in threes, elliptic-acuminate to broadly lanceolate.  Flowers are minute, sweet-scented, branches of inflorescences are distinctly puberulous with hardly any free corolla lobes.  Fruits are fleshy and red in colour"  (Agroforestree database).

Habitat/ecology:  "Occurs naturally in gallery forests but is mostly found in forest regrowth where fallow periods are prolonged.  Mean annual temperature: 26 deg C.  Mean annual rainfall: 1 375 mm" (Agroforestree database).

Propagation:  Seed.  "A hermaphroditic species. Fruit dispersal is by birds"  (Agroforestree database).

Native range:  Africa, cultivated in Asia (GRIN).  Endangered in its native range  (Agroforestree database).

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	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Kennedy, Barbara H./James, Shelley A./Imada, Clyde T. (2010) (pp. 19-20) Voucher cited: M. Purell s.n. (BISH 734216)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced cultivated	Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. (2011) Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)

Additional information:
Fact sheet from the Agroforestree database.
Information from the Global Invasive Species Database.

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

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

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

References:

Imada, Clyde T./Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral R. 2011. Annotated Checklist of Cultivated Plants of Hawai‘i (online searchable database).

International Center for Research in Agroforestry. 2008. AgroForestryTree database: a tree species reference and selection guide (online resource). World Agroforestry Centre.

Kennedy, Barbara H./James, Shelley A./Imada, Clyde T. 2010. New plant records from Herbarium Pacificum for 2008. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2008. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 107:19-26.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).