Myrsine kermadecensis
Scientific classification Edit this 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]
  • Rapanea kermadecensis (Cheeseman) Mez
  • Suttonia kermadecensis (Cheeseman) Cheeseman

Myrsine kermadecensis, commonly known as the Kermadec matipo, Kermadec myrsine, or the Kermadec mapou, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, edemic to the Kermadec Islands of New Zealand. It was named by Thomas Cheeseman in 1888, and first described in 1892.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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

Herbarium specimen of Myrsine kermadecensis, collected by Thomas Cheeseman from Raoul Island in August 1887

Myrsine kermadecensis on average reaches 10 m (32.80 feet) tall, rounded crown, with rough, firm bark. Leaves are 3–7 cm (1.18-2.75 inches) long, and 1–3.5 cm (0.39-1.37 inches) wide. Flowers are green-yellow with purple spotting, or a darker red with purple spotting. Fruit are 6–9 mm (0.23-0.35 inches) 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]

Conservation

No official conservation status has been assigned to the species by the IUCN Red List yet, for it is generally out of reach within its smaller-sized range.[4]

Uses

Myrsine kermadecensis has no currently listed uses, although its berries are edible and may have been eaten by the Polynesians who arrived on the island in the 14th century.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cheeseman, T. F. (1892). "On some Recent Additions to the New Zealand Flora". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 24: 409–412. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q115588197.
  2. 1 2 3 "Myrsine kermadecensis Cheeseman | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  3. 1 2 Cheeseman, T. F. (1888). "On the flora of the Kermadec Islands; with Notes on the Fauna". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 20: 151–170. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q115586437.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Myrsine kermadecensis". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  5. ↑ Cheeseman, T. F. (1925), Oliver, W. R. B. (ed.), Manual of the New Zealand Flora (2nd ed.), New Zealand Government, p. 711, OCLC 1129885839, Wikidata Q115528659
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