Species

Coprosma parviflora

Etymology

Coprosma: from the Greek kopros 'dung' and osme 'smell', referring to the foul smell of the species, literally 'dung smell'
parviflora: From the Latin parvus 'small, puny' and flores 'flowers', meaning small-flowered.

Common Name(s)

leafy coprosma

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened

Authority

Coprosma parviflora Hook.f.

Family

Rubiaceae

Brief Description

Bushy shrub in Northland with flattened wide angled branches bearing abundant clusters of pairs of small oval leaves. Twigs fuzzy towards tip. Leaves with tiny hairs underneath (best detected using tongue), 7-12mm long. Fruit white, pink or dark violet.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

COPPAR

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Distribution

Endemic. Three Kings Islands, and the North Island from Te Paki south to Auckland City (Remuera) but now extinct in the Auckland area. Still extant from the Kaipara Harbour north.

Flowering

August - September (- October)

Flower Colours

Green,White

Fruiting

March - April (- October)

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n = 132

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Where To Buy

Occasionally sold by retail plant and specialist native plant nurseries.

  

References and further reading

Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309

This page last updated on 15 Aug 2014