We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Pacific Hibiscus Species (Malvaceae) in sect. Lilibiscus. 2. Hibiscus kaute sp. nov., a Missing Link from Eastern Polynesia.
- Authors
Thomson, Lex A.J.; Butaud, Jean-François; Braglia, Luca; Mabberley, David J.
- Abstract
Recent linguistic, morphological, and DNA studies have shown that the Polynesian hibiscus known as kaute — koute , ' aute , and other cognates—is an undescribed eastern Polynesian Hibiscus species in sect. Lilibiscu s. It is described here as Hibiscus kaute L.A.J. Thomson & Butaud, and appears to be extremely rare, if not extinct in the wild. The French botanist Jean Nadeaud (1873) recorded ' aute in a wild state during the 1850s at the end of Pirae valley (Nahoata) and elsewhere in the interior of Tahiti where it grew on cliff faces. The original wild form—with a single whorl of petals—is also rare in cultivation, both in French Polynesia and elsewhere in the South Pacific Islands. The medicinal Polynesian double-flowered form is uncommon in cultivation and often mistaken for recently-introduced cultivars. As well as being of great cultural importance to Polynesians, kaute is arguably the most significant species in the development of modern Hibiscus hybrids and a missing link in understanding the origins of H. rosa-sinensis. Ex situ conservation measures are urgently needed in French Polynesia (Tahiti and Marquesas Islands) and, internationally, in botanic gardens, for this important progenitor species of Lilibiscus hybrids.
- Subjects
TAHITI (French Polynesia : Island); POLYNESIA; FRENCH Polynesia; HIBISCUS; MALVACEAE; SPECIES; BOTANICAL gardens; SECTS
- Publication
Pacific Science, 2022, Vol 76, Issue 2, p1
- ISSN
0030-8870
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2984/76.2.6