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Cyathea parksiae

Panga Tua-taratara*

Rough Tree-fern

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Tree-fern, detail leaf and midrib	141KB
Image:	Tree-ferns, showing pattern on trunk	144KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Rough Tree-fern

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Panga (RR)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cook Islands (Rarotonga)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Endemic of Cooks, 1-island; S.Group only (Rarotonga only - common); Land, mountains (++)

KEY FEATURES: Tree-fern to 4m, with top of spreading fronds. TRUNK robust, with rhomboid scars. FRONDS in terminal cluster, spreading; robust, to 2x1m, 3x divided, 1st and 2nd midribs with rough spines; leaflets (=pinnules) with low-rounded teeth, 2 rows of sori.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: -
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Cyathea parksiae Copel
SYNONYMS: Cyathea milnei [TC]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; PTERIDOPHYTA (=Pterophyta); Dicksoniales; CYATHEACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Formerly, pith was a famine food (Te Rangi Hiroa 1944).

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.361a Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.53 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM05a, zD02, zupD05a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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