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  4. Coprosma brunnea

Coprosma brunnea

Moeraki River.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 13/08/2013, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Hooker valley, December.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Hooker valley, December.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Moeraki River.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 12/08/2013, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Moeraki River.<br>Photographer: Mike Thorsen, Date taken: 12/08/2013, Licence: All rights reserved. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
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Common name

coprosma

Synonyms

Coprosma acerosa f. brunnea Kirk

Family

Rubiaceae

Authority

Coprosma brunnea (Kirk) Cockayne ex Cheeseman

Flora category

Vascular – Native

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Structural class

Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons

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.

COPBRU

Chromosome number

2n = 44

Current conservation status

  • Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017

The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.

2018 | At Risk – Declining

Previous conservation statuses

2012 | Data Deficient

2009 | Not Threatened

2004 | Not Threatened

Brief description

Sprawling yellowish small-leaved shrub inhabiting inland open rocky areas. Twigs pale orange, slightly fuzzy at tip. Leaves narrow, small, with dark line down middle on the underside, in clusters of pairs scattered along twigs. Flowers tiny, with long protruding threads. Fruit streaked purple.

Distribution

Endemic. South and Stewart Islands. Nelson and the drier regions or central and eastern South Island.

Habitat

Lowland to Alpine. To 1500 m. Often common on stony riverbeds and terraces but also in subalpine scrub and occasionally on open rocky sites in tussock-herbfield.

Features

Prostrate to sprawling with slender flexible interlacing branches and branchlets forming flattened usually rather open wiry mats up to approximately 2 m across, occasionally reaching 1 m or more in height when in scrub. Branches with dark brown bark, branchlets pubescent. Leaves, sparse, in opposite pairs or fascicles on very short petioles. Stipules broadly triangular, obtuse, pubescent, ciliolate. Lamina coriaceous, dark brownish green, glabrous, linear, obtuse, 5-8 (-13) × 0.5-1 mm. Midrib alone evident. Flowers solitary, terminal on short leafy branchlets. Male flower with calyx vestigial or non-existent; corolla broadly campanulate, lobes acute, more or less equal to tube. Female flower with calyx minutely toothed; corolla tubular, lobes acute, more or less equal to tube. Drupe translucent pale blue or with pale blue flecks, globose, 5-6 mm diameter.

Similar taxa

Coprosma acerosa grows in different habitats (C. acerosa prefers coastal sands throughout distribution) and are not thought to overlap naturally. C. acerosa is generally a more compact growth form with more leaves present.

Coprosma intertexta is bushy but not stiffly erect; the leaves are sharp-tipped in outline and usually red-margined.

Flowering

September-December

Flower colours

Yellow

Fruiting

February-June

Propagation technique

Easy from fresh seed, semi-hardwood cuttings and rooted pieces. Prefers free draining soil in a sunny position. Most nursery stock sold over the last few decades as this species is not C. brunnea but an allied segregate of C. acerosa endemic to the Central Volcanic Plateau of the North Island.

Threats

Not Threatened. However, it ican be uncommon ove rlarge parts of its range, and is often heavily browsed by rabbits and hares.

Etymology

coprosma: From the Greek kopros ‘dung’ and osme ‘smell’, referring to the foul smell of the species, literally ‘dung smell’

brunnea: From the Latin brunneus ‘deep brown’

Where To Buy

Occasionally offered by retail plant and specialist native plant nurseries.

Notes on taxonomy

Coprosma brunnea is part of the C. acerosa A.Cunn. complex, and many botanists prefer to regard it as either C. acerosa or a form of it. However, C. brunnea has been found growing sympatrically with C. acerosa, and remaining distinct from it, while nrDNA ITS and ETS sequences show that C. acerosa is a complex aggregate of at least 6 lineages (C. brunnea is one of these), and there are subtle morphological characters to support these lineages. Therefore until further research is conducted into this problem NZPCN think it better to retain C. brunnea at the rank of species.

Attribution

Description adapted by M. Ward from Allan (1961), Mark (2012), and Wilson & Galloway (1993).

References and further reading

Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. 1. Wellington: Government Printer. pg. 567.

Mark, A. F. 2012. Above the Treeline: A Nature Guide to Alpine New Zealand. Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson. pg. 168-169.

Wilson, H. D., & Galloway, T. 1993. Small-leaved shrubs of New Zealand. Manuka Press. pg. 108-110.

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