Coprosma ciliata
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Bushy shrub with wide-angled branches bearing very small pairs of leaves that have small hairs along the leaf margin and also underneath. Twigs covered in small hairs at tip. Leaves thin, longer than wide, with 1 or 2 pits on underside. Fruit orange.
Flower colours
Green
Detailed description
Variable, erect or spreading or sometimes sub-prostrate shrub up to approximately 3 m tall. Branches slender, branchlets pubescent. Leaves on petioles (1-) 2-3 (-4) mm long, hairy. Stipules subacute, pubescent, densely ciliate, with conspicuous tuft at apex. Lamina thin, pubescent, broad-ovate to oval to oblong, acute to obtuse, (6-) 10 (-20) x (1.5-) 4-5 (-10) mm. Midrib (pilose above and below) and principal secondary veins usually evident on both surfaces. Flowers solitary, axillary. Male flower without calyx; corolla funnelform, lobes ovate-triangular, acute, equal to tube. Female flower with acute, short, triangular calyx-teeth; corolla subcampanulate, cut 1/2 way into acute lobes. Drupe white or yellow or orange or pink or purplish-red, globose to oblong, approximately 6-7 mm diameter.
Similar taxa
Although certainly a distinct species, some forms of Coprosma are infuriatingly difficult to distinguish from some forms of C. ciliata.
Coprosma dumosa has smaller fruit, 4-5 mm diameter, and usually watery white or yellow or pink or orange or red. If pigmented, the colour is all in the skin; the flesh of the fruit is clear and watery (whereas in C. ciliata the flesh as well as the skin is usually coloured). C. dumosa has more leathery
leaves which tend to be widest toward the tip, which is generally more rounded, and blunt (C. ciliata leaves are widest about the middle and thinner and tend to taper to a pointed apex). C. dumosa is less hairy than most forms of C. ciliata.
Coprosma rubra has flattened leaf stalks, a small denticle at the tip of most stipules, and yellowish white oblong fruit 4-6 mm long.
Coprosma parviflora has violet fruit and lack a prominent tuft of hairs on the stipule.
Coprosma crassifolia shaded leaves can have hair-fringed margins as in C. ciliata and C. rubra, but the very pale under-surface of the leaf contrasting with the dark green leathery upper surface is distinctive; so is the smooth, red-brown, rather glossy bark on older branches and trunks.
Distribution
North, South, Stewart, Auckland, Campbell and Antipodes Islands. From the Tararua Range southwards.
Habitat
Lowland to higher montane, 0-900 m, forest and grassland, apparently almost throughout, but local except in southern portion of range.
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.
- 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
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Coprosma myrtillifolia Hook. f.
Taxonomic notes
In Allan (1961), Oliver, in the course of his discussion, which should be consulted, says: “Hooker described from the Auckland Islands under the name of C. myrtillifolia specimens having smaller leaves wanting hairs on the margin. Besides a portion of the type the Dominion Museum contains a good series of specimens of C. ciliata which I collected at the Auckland, Campbell, and Antipodes islands in 1927. These show variations from large ciliate leaves to small glabrous ones, both often being found on the same branches. C. myrtillifolia corresponds with the form with small glabrous leaves, which I judge to be characteristic of the more exposed positions.”
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October-November (-January)
Fruiting
February-May
Life cycle and dispersal
Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Other information
Etymology
coprosma: From the Greek kopros ‘dung’ and osme ‘smell’, referring to the foul smell of the species, literally ‘dung smell’
ciliata: From the Latin cilia ‘eyelash’, meaning fringed with hairs
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
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.
COPCIL
Chromosome number
2n = 88
Previous conservation statuses
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.
- 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.
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
Otago: 2025 | Regionally Not Threatened
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation Status of Indigenous Vascular Plants in Otago, 2025” Jarvie S et al. (2025) report.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. 1. Wellington: Government Printer. pg. 570-571.
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.
Wilson, H. D., & Galloway, T. 1993. Small-leaved shrubs of New Zealand. Manuka Press. pg. 92-93.
Attribution
Description adapted by M. Ward from Allan (1961) and Wilson & Galloway (1993).
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.