Toronia toru
Common names
toru, toro, toto, mihimihi
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Small bushy tree with long narrow leathery smooth edged-leaves that are yellowish when young and red when dying. Leaves 16-20cm long by 8-15mm wide, sharp tipped. Flowers yellowish or white, small, in clusters. Fruit dark purple, 12-18mm long.
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Detailed description
Small dioecious (or gynodioecious) tree up to 12 m tall; trunk 1 or more arising from base, 0.2-0.3 m dbh; bark firm (not flaking), grey, grey-brown, brown or mottled grey, grey-brown. Branches usually numerous, initially upright, then spreading (sometimes decurved and/or pendulous); branchlets initially semi-terete (± compressed on one or more sides), maturing terete, minutely puberulous. Leaves alternate, semi-whorled, glabrous, ± fleshy and thickly coriaceous, bright green to yellow green (often mottled or spotted with red), glossy, midrib light green or yellow, raised, veins not evident, margins entire, thickened and often distinctly paler than rest of lamina; petioles stout, fleshy, 2-4 mm long, yellow-green or red. Lamina 160-250 mm × 8-15 mm, narrow linear-lanceolate, abruptly acute or apiculate, base attenuate (gradually narrowing to petiole). Inflorescences axillary, bracteate, 6-12(-20)-flowered racemes up to 60 mm long; rhacis and pedicels pubescent, indumentum ferruginous; bracts basal, minute, ± caducous. Flowers fragrant, tepals 5-9 mm long, linear-ovate to ovate, abaxially pubescent, indumentum ferruginous, adaxially yellow, margins undulate, ± pubescent; staminate flowers with 4 stamens, ovary rudimentary in some flowers possibly functional; pistillate flowers with 4 rudimentary stamen, ovary urceolate, subsessile, style short, stigma oblique. Drupe 1(-2)-seeded, 12-18 mm long, ellipsoid, exocarp succulent, flesh red; endocarp 9-14 mm long, elliptic (sometimes broadly elliptic or ovate) or assymetric, hard, surface reticulate and finely striate, semi-glossy, light brown to brown, retriculate.
Similar taxa
Toro (Myrsine salicina) is superficially similar (as indicated by the Maori name). Toro is easily distinguished from Toronia. It has narrow-elliptic, narrow-oblong, to linear-oblong leaves with obtuse apices, rather than narrow linear-lanceolate, abruptly acute or apiculate leaves and flowers borne in dense fascicles rather than racemes. willow-leaved hakea (Hakea salicifolia) with which toru sometimes grows is vegetatively similar but has white flowers borne in fascicles and hard woody, beaked fruits.
Distribution
Endemic. North Island from Te Paki south to the mouth of the Waihaha River, on the western side of Lake Taupo. However south of Auckland, toru is mostly found in the east from the Coromandel throughout the Bay of Plenty to about Atiamuri. In the western Waikato it is known locally from the northern end of the Aotea Harbour, near Kawhia (Rakaunui), Te Kauri and Whenuapo in the Taumatatotara Range. The species also occurs in a small portion of Tairawhiti / East Cape
Habitat
Coastal to montane mostly on infertile soils, in open shrubland (especially gumland), early successional forest and along ridge lines and around slip scars in kauri (Agathis australis) and/or tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides) dominated forest. It is locally abundant on silicic igneous rocks such as rhyolite, ignimbrite and pumice.
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
Family
Synonyms
Persoonia toru A.Cunn.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
Yes
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
September - January
Fruiting
October - May
Propagation technique
Easily grown in a warm, sunny site. Once established toru is a very attractive small tree. As is typical of other members of the family it does best in infertile soils and should never have any phosphate containing fertilisers applied to it. Toru is said to be frost-sensitive.
Other information
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.
TORTOR
Chromosome number
2n = 28
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
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I, Wellington, Government Printer.
Webb, C.J.; Simpson, M.J.A. 2001: Seeds of New Zealand Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons. Christchurch, Manuka Press.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 10 February 2011. Description adapted from Allan (1961) and Webb & Simpson (2001).
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.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Toronia toru Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/toronia-toru/ (Date website was queried)