Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn., Portulacaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Portulaca paniculatum Jacq.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: fame flower, jewels of Opar, pink baby's-breath, tall purslane

Fijian: varataisi

Maori (Cook Islands): pī, pī, pī ‘enua, pī ‘enua, pī ma‘uke, pī ma‘uke, pī mōrī, pī vai-rākau

Spanish: beldroega grande, came gorda, carambola, lechuga de platanera, lechuguilla, matacallos, pasto de monte, puchero

Tahitian: ‘aturi

Tongarevan (spoken): tala pī

Tongarevan (written): tara pī

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Erect, fleshy perennial herbs 3-8 dm tall.  Leaves elliptic to obovate, 3-11 cm long, 1.5-5 cm wide, apex acuminate or acute, base attenuate.  Flowers in paniculate inflorescences 20-40 cm long, pedicels slender, 10-20 cm long, bracts linear-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm long; sepals broadly elliptic to suborbicular, 2-4 mm long; petals pink to dark pink, broadly elliptic to obovate-elliptic, 3.5-4.5 mm long; stamens 5-15.  Capsules reddish, globose, ca. 3 mm long, 3-valved.  Seeds black, glossy, ca. 0.9-1.2 mm long, the surface minutely tuberculate"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1075).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "often cultivated and sparingly naturalized" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1075). In Fiji, "occurring from sea level to about 50 m elevation as a weed in villages or along roadsides" (Smith, 1981; pp. 279-280). In New Caledonia, "peu commun dans les jardins bien que cité par Jeanneney (1894)" (MacKee, 1994; p. 119).  In Papua New Guinea, "waysides, waste places, garden beds, forest edges.  Cultivated as an ornamental plant; sometimes the leaves are eaten" (Conn, 1995; p. 219).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Tropical America, southwestern United States, and the West Indies" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1075).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Northern Cook Islands	Penrhyn (Tongareva) Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Aitutaki Atoll	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 349-350)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Miti‘aro Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Kandavu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 279-280) Voucher cited: DA 2965
Fiji Fiji Islands	Ovalau Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 279-280) Vouchers cited: Smith 7472, DA 17402, Gillespie 4495, Seemann 15
Fiji Fiji Islands	Taveuni Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 279-280) Voucher cited: DA 8917
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 279-280) Voucher cited: DA 1841
French Polynesia Society Islands	Bora Bora Island	introduced	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (pp. 223-224) Voucher cited: Grant 4989
French Polynesia Society Islands	Bora Bora Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 349-350)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Maiao (Maiaoiti, Mauiti, Tupuaemanu) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 349-350)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Maupiti (Maurua) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 349-350)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Maupiti (Maurua) Island		Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1987) (p. 29) Rare, on rock ledges at upper elevations. Vouchers cited: Raynal 17818, Morris 1 (US)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 349-350)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (pp. 223-224) Vouchers cited: Setchell & Parks 72, BRY 26005, BRY 25468
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Florence, J. (2004) (pp. 349-350)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1075)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1075)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. (2000) (p. 8) West Maui. Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H109808 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1075)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 119) Vouchers cited: Pancher s.n., Däniker 2859 (Z), Baumann 7432, MacKee 14713, MacKee 43766 Spontané
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Conn, Barry J., ed. (1995) (pp. 218-219)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 358)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

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

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

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

References:

Cardenas, Juan/Reys, Carlos E./Doll, Jerry D./Pardo, Fernando. 1972. Tropical weeds; malezas tropicales, vol. 1. International Plant Protection Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis. 341 pp.

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Conn, Barry J., ed. 1995. Handbooks of the flora of Papua New Guinea, vol. 3. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. 292 pp.

Florence, J. 2004. Flore de la Polynésie française, Vol. 2. Paris. IRE Editions, Publications Scientifiques, Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 41. 503 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. 1987. Flora of Maupiti, Society Islands. The Smithsonian Institution. Atoll Research Bulletin 294:1-70.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

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

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. 2000. New plant records from Maui, O‘ahu, and the Hawai‘i Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 64:1-10.

Smith, Albert C. 1981. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 2. 810 pp.

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

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.

Whistler, W. A. 1990. Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands: The plants, their Maori names, and their uses. Allertonia 5(4):347-424.

Wiggins, I. L./Porter, D. M. 1971. Flora of the Galapágos Islands. Stanford University Press. 998 pp.