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Nervilia aragoana

Pia Rau-ta‘i (AT)

One-leaf Orchid

Multimedia & Additional Resources

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Image:	Leaves	93KB
Image:	Leaf and root	77KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: One-leaf Orchid

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pia Rau-ta‘i (AT); COMMENT: In French Polynesia it is also known as Pia Rau-ta‘i and Pia Rautahi

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - n.Australis - Indonesia - Societies

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, lowlands, makatea forests

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Nationally endangered (moderately)

KEY FEATURES: Ground orchid - after the flowers mature the single leaf develops. Flower-stalk to 40cm with 5-15 penulous pale green flowers, petals 2.5cm. Leaf erect, shiny, cordate at base, acuminate or acute tipped, 12x15cm, petiole 15-30cm. Root tuber, ovoid, ~2x1cm, white.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
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

Nervilia aragoana Gaud.
SYNONYMS: Pogonia nervilia; Pogonia flabelliformis

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Orchidales; ORCHIDACEAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
Special Reference: Detailed in Lewis & Cribb (1989) Orchids of Vanuatu, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew; and in Smith (1991) Flora Vitiensis Nova, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kauai.

p.5/341 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.389d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

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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