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Coprosma

Coprosma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands.

Description

The name Coprosma means "smelling like dung" and refers to the smell (methanethiol) given out by the crushed leaves of a few species.

Many species are shrubs or subshrubs with tiny evergreen leaves, but some are small trees and some have much larger leaves. The flowers have insignificant petals and are wind-pollinated, with long anthers and stigmas. Most species are dioecious, but some (particularly those native to New Zealand) species can sometimes have individuals with perfect flowers. Natural hybrids are common. The fruits are non-poisonous juicy berries variously coloured bright orange, red, blue, white, or colourless, most often containing two small seeds. The orange fruit of the larger species were eaten by Māori children, and are also popular with birds. It is said that coffee can be made from the seeds, Coprosma being related to the coffee plants. A notable feature of the genus is the domatia, hollows on the leaf undersides in the axils of leaf veins, that encourage certain kinds of mites to take up residence, which feed on and reduce parasitic fungi which attack the leaf. Although some early research attributed to the domatia and stipules the ability to harbour nitrogen-fixing bacteria, more rigorous tests found this not to be the case.

Species

References

External links