Coriaria sarmentosa
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Common robust much branched large shrub inhabiting open or disturbed areas. Can cover large areas. Dying back in winter. Twigs square in cross-section, bearing pairs of 40-50mm long glossy green oval pointed leaves that do not have a leaf stalk. Flowers in spikes up to 8cm long. Fruit black.
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
Coriariaceae
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Life cycle
Fleshy berries are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Other information
Poisonous plant
All parts of all Coriaria species are poisonous especially the seed inside the black berries. For more information see the entry under Coriaria arborea var arborea (tutu). Click on this link for more information about Poisonous native plants.
Plant of the Month
This plant has been featured as a Plant of the Month – see Trilepidea: NZPCN newsletter for March 2021 for the full story.
Etymology
coriaria: From the Latin corium ‘hide’, possibly from the use of some species for tanning leather
sarmentosa: Twiggy
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.
CORSAR
Chromosome number
2n = 80
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
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