The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Corynocarpus laevigatus

Etymology

Corynocarpus: From the Greek koryne ‘club’ and –carpus ‘fruit’
laevigatus: smooth

Common Name(s)

Karaka, kopi

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

Corynocarpus laevigatus J.R.Forst. et G.Forst.

Family

Corynocarpaceae

Brief Description

Large tree about as wide as tall with many thick dark green glossy leaves and large oval orange fruit. Bark dark, with dark spots on trunk. Leaves 10-20cm long, paler underneath. Fruit to 4cm long, oval, in dense sprays, flesh thin.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

CORLAE

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

None

Distribution

Endemic. Exact indigenous distribution uncertain due to its widespread historic planting by Maori. Common from Raoul and the Three Kings Islands, throughout the North and South Islands to Banks Peninsula and Okarito. Also on the Chatham Islands. Most botanists accept it as native only to the northern half of the North Island. It is widely naturalised in lowland forests, from gardens and 'conservation plantings' well south of its presumed natural range. Seedlings can form dense carpets to the exclusion of other native regeneration (Costal et al. 2006). It is probably naturalised from deliberate Polynesian plantings on Raoul and the Chatham Islands.

Habitat

Common in mainly coastal situations, often a major component of coastal forest, rarely dominant. Occasionally found inland, and then often in association with Maori cultural deposits.

Features

Leafy canopy tree up 15 m tall. Trunk stout up to 1 m diam., Bark grey. Branches stout, erect to spreading. Petioles 10-15 mm long. Leaves dark green above paler beneath, thick, leathery, (50-)100-150(-200) x (30-)50-70 mm, glossy, elliptic to obovate-oblong, margins recurved. Inflorescence a stout, erect panicle up to 200 mm long, peduncles and pedicels short, somewhat fleshy, pale green. Flowers 4-5 mm diam., greenish-cream to off-white or pale yellow. Sepals suborbicular, petals 5, obovate-spathulate, alternating with 5 subpetaloid staminodes. Fruit an ellipsoid to ovoid drupe 25-40(-46) mm long, flesh pale yellow to orange. Endocarp a fibrous reticulum surrounding a smoother, harder papery layer beneath. This structure enclosing a single seed (kernel).

Similar Taxa

Karaka is a very distinctive tree unlikely to be confused with any other indigenous, naturalised or planted exotic tree. The simply, leathery, dark green leaves and large orange drupes with their fibrous endocarp serve to immediately distinguish it. Some Botanic Gardens hold specimens of the other 4 species of the genus, vegetatively these look similar to karaka but their fruits are very different in colour, shape and size.

Flowering

August - November

Flower Colours

Cream,Green

Fruiting

January - April

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from fresh seed. Cuttings are very difficult to strike. Frost-tender and cold-sensitive when young.

Threats

Abundant and not threatened. Often naturalising in suitable habitats.

Chromosome No.

2n = 44

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

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

This page last updated on 16 Nov 2019