Solandra maxima (Sesse & Moc.) P.S.Green, Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 3 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Solandra hartwegii N.E. Br.; Solandra nitida Zucc.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: chalice vine, cup of gold, gold cup

Spanish: copa de oro, pera tetona, tetona

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Straggling and scrambling, wide-ranging, stout evergreen shrub; shoots glabrous.  Leaf lamina broadly elliptic, (7-) 9-14 (-18) cm long, (3.5-) 5-8 (-11) cm broad, obtuse to broadly cuneate at base, entire, obtuse to shortly acuminate at apex, thickish.  Flowers sweet scented; pedicel stout, 1-2 cm long.  Calyx tubular, 5-7 cm long, unequally divided, (3-) 5-lobed.  Corolla 16-24 cm long, somewhat cup-shaped, 10-13 cm diam., with a relatively narrow tube, golden yellow with 5 purplish brown lines inside; lobes 5-8 cm long, becoming rolled back.  Filaments 9-10 cm long; anthers versatile.  Style 20-25 cm long; stigma capitate.  Berry conoid, 4-5 cm long"  (Orchard, 1994; p. 303).

"A large, smooth, woody, climbing shrub...  Leaves are oblong, entire, pointed or blunt, smooth, 2 to 6 inches long.  The rather short-lived flowers are borne singly at branch tips, have a goblet-shaped corolla with five broad, shallow lobes, are yellow becoming brownish yellow, marked longitudinally with five narrow purple streaks, and are about 9 inches long.  The calyx is two- to five-lobed and about 3 inches long.  The flowers have as sweet, mellow, more or less pleasing odor"  (Neal, 1965; p. 748).

Habitat/ecology:  Dry to moist forests and open areas. In New Caledonia, "liane ornementale assez commune dans les jardins de Nouméa" (MacKee, 1994; pp. 131-132).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Mexico, now widely planted in tropical and subtropical gardens.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 10) "An escape from cultivation". Voucher cited: W.R. Sykes NI 644 (CHR)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Aitutaki Atoll	cultivated	Tschan, Bill (year unknown)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 89)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	cultivated	Sykes, Bill (year unknown)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1991) (voucher ID: BISH 665153) Taxon name on voucher: Solandra maxima (Sesse & Moc.) P.S.Green
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 34-35)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1960) (voucher ID: BISH 33910) Taxon name on voucher: Solandra maxima (Sesse & Moc.) P.S.Green
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 4656 (PAP) Cultivée. Assez rare.
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Rurutu Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands		Neal, Marie C. (1965)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 132) Voucher cited: MacKee 20666

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Naturalizes to some extent in Hawai‘i. Escape from cultivation on Norfolk Island.

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

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

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

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1960. Voucher specimen #BISH 33910 (Pillay 12247).

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1991. Voucher specimen #BISH 665153 (Sykes, W.R. 474382).

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).

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

McMullen, C. K. 1999. Flowering plants of the Galápagos. Comstock Pub. Assoc., Ithaca, N.Y. 370 p.

Neal, Marie C. 1965. In Gardens of Hawaii. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication 50, Bishop Museum Press. 924 pp.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Smith, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 146 pp.

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

Tschan, Bill. 0. Bill Tschan, pers. com.

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