Myrsine kermadecensis
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| Myrsine kermadecensis | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Primulaceae |
| Genus: | Myrsine |
| Species: | M. kermadecensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Myrsine kermadecensis | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Myrsine kermadecensis, commonly known as the Kermadec matipo, Kermadec myrsine, or the Kermadec mapou, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, endemic to the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand. It was named by Thomas Cheeseman in 1888, and first described in 1892.[2][3]
Cheeseman named the species in his 1888 article On the flora of the Kermadec Islands; with Notes on the Fauna, noting that the plant was common on Raoul Island, but refused to describe it as a novel species until he was able to compare with specimens of Myrsine crassifolia from Norfolk Island.[3] Cheeseman described the plant four years later, in his article On some Recent Additions to the New Zealand Flora (1892).[1]
Description
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Myrsine kermadecensis on average reaches 10 m (33 ft) tall, rounded crown, with rough, firm bark. Leaves are 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 in) long, and 1–3.5 cm (0.39–1.38 in) wide. Flowers are green-yellow with purple spotting, or a darker red with purple spotting. Fruit are 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) wide.[4] Cheeseman described the species as follows:
A small glabrous tree, with much of the habit and appearance of Drimys axillaris. Bark rough, blackish - brown. Leaves 2in.-2+1⁄2in. long, obovate-oblong, acute or obtuse, entire, coriaceous, gradually narrowed into short petioles 1⁄6in.-1⁄4in. long; margins slightly recurved. Flowers small, diœcious (or polygamous?) in many-flowered clusters on the old wood below the leaves. Pedicels short, rarely over 1⁄5in. Calyx minute, lobes short, broad. Corolla about 1⁄8in. long, divided nearly to the base into 5 acute lobes, which are fringed at the sides. Anthers nearly as large as the lobes. Drupe globose, 1⁄3in.-1⁄4in. diameter, black when fully ripe.[1]
Cheeseman noted that the plant was phenotypically similar to both Myrsine crassifolia and Myrsine variabilis of Australia; with Myrsine kermadecensis having smaller leaves and longer petioles than Myrsine crassifolia.[1]
When the genus Myrsine was formerly separated into Rapanea and Suttonia, Cheeseman published this further description posthumously in 1925:
A small glabrous tree 8—15 ft. high; bark rough, blackish-brown. Leaves 1+1⁄2-2+1⁄2 in. long, elliptic-oblong or obovate-oblong, acute or obtuse, narrowed into petioles 1⁄6-1⁄4 in. long, entire, coriaceous, glandular-dotted, veins copiously reticulated, margins slightly recurved. Flowers in many-flowered fascicles on the old wood below the leaves, small, 1⁄10-1⁄8 in. diam., unisexual; pedicels short, 1⁄8-1⁄6 in. long. Calyx minute, 4-5-lobed; lobes short, broad. Corolla divided nearly to the base into 4 or 5 ovate acute lobes, which are fringed on the margins. Anthers nearly as large as the lobes. Female flowers not seen. Fruit globose, 1⁄4-1⁄3 in. diam., black when fully ripe, 1-seeded.[5]
Distribution and habitat
Myrsine kermadecensis is endemic to Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands,[4] where it grows in the subtropical biome,[2] primarily in drier-climate forests, but also is occasionally seen growing within wetter forests.[4]