Peraxilla tetrapetala
Common names
Red mistletoe, pikirangi, pirita, roeroe, pirinoa
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Fleshy shrub to 3m wide growing on inner branches of beech trees with glossy green fleshy paired leaves and masses of red tubular flowers. Leaves to 2.5cm long, blistered, diamond shaped. Flowers to 4cm long. Fallen petals litter forest floor under plants. Fruit green.
Flower colours
Red/Pink
Detailed description
A shrub that can grow up to 2 m across. It usually parasitises close to the trunk of its host. It has characteristic small raised blisters or lesions on small, usually rhombic leaves. The flowers are solitary or 2-4 together and are bright red (up to 40 mm long). The ripe fruit is fleshy and green. Veins on the leaves are hardly evident and only the midrib is conspicuous. Leaf tips are never notched. Host trees are typically beech or Quintinia.
Similar taxa
Peraxilla colensoi, Ileostylus micranthus. Peraxilla tetrapetala has leaves mostly oblong or diamond-shaped, with blister galls, 1-3 flowers per flower cluster and dull green fruit. It grows on black and mountain beech. P. colensoi is generally larger, has 3-10 flowers per flower cluster, wider leaves, no blisters and bright yellow fruit and usually grows on silver beech. Ileostylus micranthus has green flowers and does not parasitise beech.
Distribution
North and South Island, but less common in the North Island.
Habitat
Coastal to montane. A hemiparasite whose main hosts are mountain beech (N. solandri var. cliffortioides), black beech (Nothofagus solandri var. solandri), red beech (N. fusca), and silver beech (N. menziesii). However, it has been recorded as a parasite on a further 17 species (2 exotic) including puriri (Vitex luceans) and pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa).
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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: CD
Threats
A wide variety of threats are now acknowledged as working in unison to cause the national decline of this and allied leafy mistletoes species. The most obvious threat seems to be brush tailed possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), which heavily browse mistletoes, to such an extent that they are held as the primary cause for the loss of the beech mistletoes from large parts of the countries beech forest.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Elytranthe tetrapetala (L.f.) Engl., Loranthus tetrapetalus L.f., Loranthus decussatus Kirk
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
Yes
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October to January
Fruiting
April to June
Propagation technique
Can be grown from fresh seed placed on suitable host tissue (ideally Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides). Although seed germinates readily the ability of the seedling to form a firm host is rather variable. Failure rates are high and experimentation with plenty of fresh seed is usually needed.
Other information
Etymology
tetrapetala: Four winged
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.
PERTET
Chromosome number
2 n= 24
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 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: CD
2012 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: CD
2009 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: CD
2004 | Gradual Decline
Regional conservation statuses
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 “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Threatened – Regionally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: CD, DPS, DPT, PD, Sp
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
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): Peraxilla tetrapetala Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/peraxilla-tetrapetala/ (Date website was queried)