Tropical Plant Database - Plant Details

Joinvillea ascendens is a grass-like herb that grows up to 5 m tall. It produces underground stems called rhizomes that may connect adjacent plants. The stems are hollow except at the nodes and the leaf bases clasp the stem however remain open on one side of the stem unlike grasses in which the leaf bases fully enclose the stem. The leaves of Joinvillea ascendens can be up to 80 cm long and 16 cm wide and possess 7-13 pleats on each side of the midvein. The flowers of Joinvillea are produced in a branched inflorescence or cluster that is 10-40 cm long. The flowers are small and inconspicuous and lack brightly colored petals as they are not insect pollinated. The perianth contains six membranous tepals that are 3.5-4 mm long and 2.6-2.2 mm wide that often split with age. The fruit are also small, at only 5.8 mm in length, and are fleshy at maturity. Each fruit contains 1-3 round, slightly wrinkled seeds.

Four subspecies are recognized in Joinvillea ascendens based on morphological variability, particularly in the tepal size and shape. Joinvillea ascendens subsp. glabra has slightly compressed stems, narrow leaves that are only 7 cm wide with 7-9 pleats on each side of the midvein, tepals with a small sharp abrupt point at the apex, and fruits that are 4.8 mm wide.

(Newell, T. K. 1969. A study of the genus Joinvillea (Flagellariaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, 50: 527-555.)
(Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai‘i. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Bishop Museum Special Publication 97. University of Hawai‘i Press, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.)

The family Joinvilleaceae contains only a single genus, Joinvillea, which is found on the edges of forests and alongside rivers from sea level to 1920 m. Joinvillea ascendens is native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Micronesia, New Caledonia, and Samoa. This species if found in high light environments in the forest understory in wet forest and adjacent to streams. Four subspecies are recognized in Joinvillea ascendens based on the morphological variability of the perianth. Joinvillea ascendens subsp. glabra is endemic to New Caledonia where it is found in secondary forests at 950 m elevation. Joinvillea ascendens subsp. ascendens is native to Hawai‘i, Joinvillea ascendens subsp. borneensis is native to Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines, and Ponape in the Caroline Islands, and Joinvillea ascendens subsp. samoensis is native to Western Samoa.

(Joinvillea ascendens subsp. glabra. Endemia: Faune & Flore de Nouvelle-Caleonie. Accessed online on 7 August 2007 at http://www.endemia.nc/plante/.)
(Newell, T. K. 1969. A study of the genus Joinvillea (Flagellariaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, 50: 527-555.)
(Stevens, P. F. (2001+). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 7, May 2007 [updated 05/28/2007]. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/.)
(Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai‘i. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Bishop Museum Special Publication 97. University of Hawai‘i Press, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.)

The mechanism of pollination for Joinvillea species remains unknown. While they are widely assumed to be wind pollinated, field observations document visitation by bees. The fruit are considered to be dispersed by birds and the fleshy fruit are conspicuous on the inflorescence when mature.

The genus name Joinvillea honors Prince de Joinville the third son of King Louis Philippe who was the King of France from 1830 to 1848.

(Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai‘i. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Bishop Museum Special Publication 97. University of Hawai‘i Press, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai’i.)

The Hawaiian taxa ‘Ohe (Joinvillea ascendens subsp. ascendens) was included as a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act in 2006 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. A candidate species is one in which data indicates biological vulnerability of this species but for which a proposal has not been completed. This species currently is represented by less than 100-200 individuals in Hawaii. Threats to the survival of this species include damage to habitat by feral pigs, competition from introduced species, and attacks on the seedlings by an unknown fungus.

(USFWS, 2006. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants - Proposed Critical Habitat Designations. Federal Register 71(176). Accessed online on 7 August 2007 at http://www.fws.gov/policy/library/06-7375.pdf.)

We currently have 3 herbarium specimens for Joinvillea ascendens subsp. glabra in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.

• 019723 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1995
• 040608 - collected by David H. Lorence in 2003
• 088074 - collected by David H. Lorence in 2022