Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

Species Page

Back to: «« Search Page | « Results Page

Add to My List

Coix lacryma-jobi

Poepoe

Job's Tears

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Fruit and leaves	60KB
Image:	Leaves, fruit and flower	32KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Job's Tears

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Poepoe (RR MG AT MK AK); Other Polynesian - Hana (TON), Sanasana (SAM), Sila (FIJ), Poepoe (TAH), Pū‘ohe‘ohe (HAW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Asia - w.Pacific

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent (first record Wilder 1920s), Naturalised; S.Group (all islands with wetlands - common); Land, lowlands, wetlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Material (Adornment); Mild invasive in swamplands.

KEY FEATURES: Tall annual grass, to 2m. LEAVES wide, flat, to 25x4cm. FLOWERS axial clusters; female within grey, beadlike sheath, to 15mm (the 'seed'); male protrude and soon discarded. The plants die during winter.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Coix lacryma-jobi Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); COMMELINIDAE; Cyperales; POACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Material (Adornment). Comments: The grey 'seeds' are used as beads for necklaces.
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Mild invasive in swamplands.

IDENTIFICATION: Tall annual grass to 2m. LEAVES wide, flat, lancelike. FLOWERS several clusters in upper leaf-joints (=axils); each cluster on a long stalk with a grey beadlike sheath (=cupule / involucre) to 15mm; female flowers are inside the sheath, while male flowers protrude and are soon discarded. The sheath forms a hard white or grey 'seed'.

GENERAL NOTE: Cheeseman did not record this plant in May-June 1899, while Wilder recorded it in the 1920 as 'rapidly spreading along waterways, and is becoming a noxious weed. Probably accidentally introduced'. This seems to indicate that it is a Recent Introduction in the Cook Islands, as in Hawaii where Wagner et.al. record it as first noted around 1870 and first collected in 1903.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1517 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.80 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.274 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.1/388 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.17 R Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.392b 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.
Please refer to our use policy.

Biodiversity Database: More Options | Help

My List: View List | Edit List | Clear List