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  4. Didymocheton spectabilis

Didymocheton spectabilis

Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, Porirua.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 04/07/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Kohekohe.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Kohekohe.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Kohekohe.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Kohekohe tree.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Kohekohe tree.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Fruit.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Leaves.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Possum browse.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Trunk and flower.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Tuateawa, Coromandel, June.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Tuateawa, Coromandel, June.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Kapiti Island. June 2005.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Kapiti Island.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 01/06/2005, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Kapiti Island.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 01/06/2005, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Dysoxylum spectabile.<br>Photographer: Bec Stanley, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0'>CC BY-SA</a>.
Dysoxylum spectabile.<br>Photographer: Bec Stanley, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0'>CC BY-SA</a>.
Dysoxylum spectabile.<br>Photographer: Bec Stanley, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0'>CC BY-SA</a>.
Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, Porirua.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 04/07/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, Porirua.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 04/07/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, Porirua.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 04/07/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, Porirua.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 04/07/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <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 names

kohekohe, New Zealand mahogany

Biostatus

Native – Endemic taxon

Category

Vascular

Structural class

Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons

Simplified description

Canopy tree bearing leaves with 4 pairs of large dark green glossy leaflets along a stem with fifth leaflet at the tip and a swollen base where leaf stem joins the twig. Inhabiting warmer forests. Flowers small, in sprays projecting from trunk and branches. Fruit orange, covered by a husk.

Flower colours

Green, White

Detailed description

Tree up to 15 m tall usually with abroad, spreading canopy. Trunk up to 1 m diam., branches stout, erect then spreading. Bark pale brown, under bark green. Leaves compound, imparipinnate, alternate on pulvinate petioles up to 40 mm long, leaflet pairs 4-6, (50-)-150(-200) x (20-)30(-80) mm, opposite to subopposite, bright green, yellow-green to dark green, ovate to obovate-oblong, leathery, margins somewhat undulate. Plants gynodioecious, with fixed female and inconstant males on different trees. Inflorescence a cymose, drooping, panicle arising from trunk and branches (cauliflorous). Flowers c. 30 mm diam., fleshy. Pedicels short. Calyx divided to base, lobes broad-oblong, abruptly pointed, ciliate, petals linear, 10 mm, spreading, waxy white or greenish. Capsules, woody, broad-obovoid to subglobose, 3-4-celled, c. 25 mm long, green. Seeds 2 per cell, orange or scarlet.

Similar taxa

A very distinctive tree which with its large compound green leaves and cauliflorous flowering habit could not easily be confused with any other indigenous, naturalised or exotic species present in New Zealand.

Distribution

Endemic. North and South Islands. In the South Island not extending much beyond the Marlborough Sounds, reaching a southern limit near the Hurunui River (Napenape).

Habitat

Common and sometimes dominant or co-dominant tree of coastal to lowland forest.

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

Jump to previous conservation statuses

Threats

Not Threatened. However, where possum and rat numbers are high this species is not actively regenerating. Possums defoliolate trees, and will heavily browse inflorescences such that few succeed in flowering and setting fruit. Rats are major seed predators. Only where control of these animals is undertaken, or on possum and rodent-free offshore islands can one see kohekohe flowering, fruiting and regenerating freely. If numbers of these introduced animals remain unchecked, it is clear that kohekohe will decline and vanish from large parts of its natural range.

Detailed taxonomy

Family

Meliaceae

Authority

Didymocheton spectabilis (G.Forst.) Mabb. et Holzmeyer

Synonyms

Trichilla spectabilis G.Forst., Hartighsea spectabilis Juss., Dysoxylum spectabile (G.Forst.) Hook.f.

Taxonomic notes

We follow Holzmeyer et al. (2021) in placing Dysoxylum spectabile in the genus Didymocheton Blume.

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Ecology

Flowering

March - June

Fruiting

April - August

Tolerances

Easily grown in a variety of situations and moisture levels. Intolerant of cold, and frost-sensitive.

Life cycle and dispersal

Arillate seeds are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easy from fresh seed.

Other information

Extra information

The name of Pukekohe, a town south of Auckland, is an abbreviation of “Puke kohekohe” which means “Hill of the kohekohe”.

Etymology

spectabilis: Notable

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.

DIDSPE

Chromosome number

2n = 84

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

Jump to current conservation status

Regional conservation statuses

Auckland: 2025 | Regionally Not Threatened | Qualifiers: DPS, DPT

The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Auckland conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation status of vascular plant species in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland” Simpkins E et al. (2025) report.

Referencing and citations

References and further reading

Duguid, F. 1985. Kohekohe Dysoxylum spectabile as an accidental epiphyte. Wellington Botanical Society Bulleton, 42: 11

Holzmeyer, L.; Hauenschild, F.; Mabberley, D.J.; Muellner-Riehl, A.N. 2021: Confirmed polyphyly, generic recircumscription and typification of Dysoxylum (Meliaceae), with revised disposition of currently accepted species. Taxon. DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12591

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

Attribution

Fact sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange for NZPCN (1 June 2013)

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Didymocheton spectabilis Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/didymocheton-spectabilis/ (Date website was queried)

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