Leptecophylla robusta
Common names
pouteretere
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Bushy prickly shrub bearing hard narrow sharp leaves that are white underneath and red to white fruit inhabiting the Chatham Islands. Leaves 12-20mm long by 3-7mm wide, green lines visible in the white underside of leaf.
Flower colours
Cream, White
Detailed description
Dioecious shrub or small tree to 8 m tall. Bark firm, dark grey to grey-brown, fibrous ± tessellated and deeply furrowed. Stems grey-brown or grey. Branchlets yellow-brown, orange-brown or brown, rounded, puberulent. Leaf buds prominent, glabrescent, hairs white, sericeous. Leaves erect or spreading, dark green, purple-green or bronze-green above, pale green or cream below, ovate or oblong, 9.9-16.2 × 2.2-3.4 mm wide, flat, apex obtuse, with a callus tip; margin recurved slightly, glabrous or ciliolate only at the apex, upper surface glabrous, lower surface with intervenal papillae and 6-8 conspicuous veins; petiole 1.3-2.8 mm long, upper surface puberulent. Flowers sickly-sweet fragrant, solitary, terminal and axillary, erect, pedicel of male flowers 3.1-4.1 mm long, 2.4-3.2 mm long in females; bracts triangular, 0.7-9.0 × 0.9-1.4 mm, apices obtuse, glabrous outside, ciliolate on the margins toward the apex; bracteoles and sepals glabrous, conspicuously striate when dry; bracteoles 9-12 per flower, imbricate, 1.7-2.2. × 1.5-2.1 mm; sepals ovate, 2.1-2.6 × 1.6-2.1 mm. Corolla tube white to cream, usually equal to calyx, thin U-shaped, 1.7-2.0 mm long; lobes white or cream, more or less equal to tube 1.7-2.1 mm long, apices broadly acute, glabrous or internally occasionally sparsely hairy. Anthers of male flowers 1.1-1.4 mm long, usually enclosed within the corolla; filaments 0.4-0.7 mm long. Ovary spherical 0.7-1.1 × 0.9-1.1 mm, glabrous, 4-5-celled; style straight, glabrous, tapering to the ovary, 1.1-1.4 mm long in males, 0.9-1.2 mm long in females; stigma 0.1 mm high; nectary continuous, 0.4-0.7 mm tall, upper margin usually coarsely toothed. Drupe red, pink or white, fleshy, spherical, 5-8 × 6-10 mm. Endocarp transversely broadly elliptic to transversely elliptic, terete 2.8-4.3 × 3.5-5.0 mm, with c.20 indistinct longitudinal ridges; apex rounded to an apiculate end; base rounded or obtuse, with a small hollow. Surface dark brown weathering to light brown, irregularly granular. Internally 2-5-celled, with up to 5 of these filled.
Similar taxa
Superficially similar to Leptecophylla juniperina (J.R.Forst. et G.Forst.) C.M.Weiller from which it differs by its restriction to the Chatham Islands; greater stature; and suberect to spreading leaves with blunt short apices, and which are veined > 5 times.
Distribution
Endemic. Chatham Islands: Rekohu (Chatham Island), Rangihaute (Pitt Island)
Habitat
Coastal and inland in forest and scrub, also within restiad bog. Occasionally, such as on the southern tablelands, forming the forest canopy. Uncommon on sand and avoids active sand dune systems.
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 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE, RR
Threats
A naturally uncommon species abundant on the main Chatham Islands. It is not especially palatable and so persists in rough pasture and other land accessible to stock. It is mostly threatened by land clearance and its local use for fire wood.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ericaceae
Synonyms
Cyathodes robusta Hook.f., Cyathodes acerosa var. latifolia Hook.f., Styphelia robusta (Hook.f.) Sleumer
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
August - October
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Propagation technique
Difficult and should not be removed from the wild. Some people have successfully grown on plants transplanted from the wild, and cuttings, though slow can be struck. Seed will germinate but this can take 2-6 years. At all stages plants are prone to collapse and resent any disturbance of the roots.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
robusta: Sturdy
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.
LEPROB
Chromosome number
2n = 20
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE, RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE, RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: IE
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Weiller, C.M. 1999: Leptecophylla, a new genus for species formerly included in Cyathodes (Epacridaceae). Muelleria 12: 195-214.
Webb, C.J.; Simpson, M.J.A. 2001: Seeds of New Zealand – Gymnosperms & Dicotyledons. Manuka Press, Christchurch.
Attribution
Description modified from Weiller (1999). Endocarp description from Webb and Simpson (2001).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Leptecophylla robusta Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/leptecophylla-robusta/ (Date website was queried)