Beilschmiedia tarairi
Common names
taraire
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Common canopy tree of northern North Island. Leaves large, leathery, oval, silvery underneath, margins curved. Twigs and young leaves with reddish down. Flowers inconspicuous. Fruit very large, dark purple, glossy, held upright, containing a single large elliptical seed which has a network of veins on the papery surface.
Flower colours
Brown, Green
Detailed description
Evergreen tree up to 22 m tall, with very broad canopy crown. Trunk to 1 m diam. Bark smooth, dark brown. Branches stout, spreading. Branchlets, young leaves, petioles and young inflorescences densely clad in reddish brown tomentum. Foliage closely alternate, erecto-patent, simple, leathery. Petioles (8-)10(-12) mm. Leaves (36-)50-72(-85) x (26-)34-48(-56) mm, wide-elliptic to wide-obovate, dark green and glabrous above, bullate, glaucous below, with stout veins covered in reddish brown tomentum, margins entire„ apex rounded, retuse and mucronate. Inflorescence and erect, axillary panicle up to 100 mm long. Flowers sexually perfect, 3-5 mm diam., greenish, often partially clothed in dense reddish-brown tomentum, perianth cleft into 6, stamens 12. Fruit an erect, ellipsoid to ovoid drupe (28-)30(-35) x (14-)16(-18) mm, 1-seeded, pericarp fleshy, dark purple when ripe, covered in waxy glaucous bloom.
Similar taxa
A very distinct species whose broad, dark-green, bullate leaves with their distinctive glaucous undersides, and large, erect plum-like dark purple fruits serve to immediately distinguish it from all other indigenous trees and shrubs.
Distribution
Endemic. Confined to the North Island where it most common north of Auckland and Thames. However it also occurs in scattered pockets in the west south of Port Waikato to the Kawhia Harbour, inland at Pukemokemoke (near Tauhei), and in the east it occurs very locally from the eastern end of Papatea Bay to East Cape.
Habitat
Common canopy forming tree in lowland and lower montane forests north of Auckland. Often associated with kauri (Agathis australis), and pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), and on basalt rocks and soils puriri (Vitex lucens).
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Lauraceae
Synonyms
Laurus tarairi A.Cunn., Nesodaphne tarairi (A.Cunn.) Hook.f.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
(September-) November (-December)
Fruiting
March - November
Life cycle and dispersal
Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Easy from fresh seed. Better germination is achieved if the flesh surrounding the seed is cleaned off.
Other information
NVS code
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.
BEITAR
Chromosome number
2n=24
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Wellington, Government Printer.
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 2009 Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 285-309
Wright, A. E. 1984: Beilschmiedia Nees (Lauraceae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 22: 109-125.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 12 February 2004. Description adapted from Allan (1961) and Wright (1984).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Beilschmiedia tarairi Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/beilschmiedia-tarairi/ (Date website was queried)