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
Coprosma acerosa A.Cunn. - coprosma - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island and Chatham Islands) Coprosma acutifolia Hook.f. - Raoul Island Coprosma arborea Kirk - tree coprosma, mamangi - New Zealand Merr. & L.M.Perry - New Guinea Coprosma × arcuata Colenso - C. propinqua × C. robusta - New Zealand North Island Coprosma areolata Cheeseman - thin-leaved coprosma - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma atropurpurea (Cockayne & Allan) L.B.Moore - New Zealand South Island Coprosma barbata Utteridge - New Guinea Coprosma baueri Endl. - Norfolk Island and Phillip Island W.R.B.Oliv. - Pitcairn Islands Coprosma bougainvilleensis Gideon - Solomon Islands Merr. & L.M.Perry - New Guinea Coprosma brunnea (Kirk) Cockayne - New Zealand South Island Coprosma × buchananii Kirk - C. crassifolia × C. robusta - southern New Zealand North Island Coprosma chathamica Cockayne - Chatham Islands Coprosma cheesemanii W.R.B.Oliv. - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma ciliata Hook.f. - tree 7m tall - New Zealand, Antipodes Islands Coprosma colensoi Hook.f. - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma × conferta A.Cunn. - C. propinqua × C. robusta - New Zealand Fosberg - Tuha'a Pae Coprosma cordicarpa Cantley, Spock-Koehler, and Chau - Maui Coprosma crassifolia Colenso - stiff, red-brown branches - New Zealand Coprosma crenulata W.R.B.Oliv. - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma cuneata Hook.f. - New Zealand South Island, Stewart Island, Antipodes Islands Coprosma × cunninghamii Hook.f. Hillebr. - Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coprosma decurva Heads - New Zealand Coprosma depressa Colenso ex Hook.f. - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) W.R.B.Oliv. - Papua New Guinea Coprosma dodonaeifolia W.R.B.Oliv. - Great Barrier Island Coprosma dumosa (Cheeseman) G.T.Jane - New Zealand Coprosma elatirioides de Lange & A.S.Markey - New Zealand South Island Coprosma elegans Utteridge - New Guinea W.R.B.Oliv. - Kauai Coprosma ernodeoides A.Gray - Hawaii, Maui Coprosma esulcata (F.Br.) Fosberg - Marquesas Islands W.L.Wagner & Lorence - Marquesas Islands Coprosma fernandeziana ined. - Robinson Crusoe Island Coprosma foetidissima J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. - Stinkwood, a small New Zealand tree with foul-smelling leaves A.Gray - Hawaiian Islands Coprosma fowerakeri D.A.Norton & de Lange - New Zealand South Island Coprosma glabrata J.W.Moore - Raiatea Coprosma × gracilicaulis Carse - C. rotundifolia × C. tenuicaulis - New Zealand North Island Coprosma × gracilis A.Cunn. - C. lucida × C. rhamnoides - New Zealand North Island Coprosma grandifolia Hook.f. kanono, a large bush with leaves 15 cm long or more; its bark contains an orange dye - New Zealand Coprosma hirtella Labill. - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales Coprosma hookeri Stapf - Sabah Coprosma huttoniana P.S.Green - Lord Howe Island Coprosma inopinata I.Hutton & P.S.Green - Lord Howe Island Coprosma intertexta G.Simpson - New Zealand South Island (A.Gray) A.Heller - Kauai Coprosma × kirkii Cheeseman - C. acerosa × C. repens - New Zealand North Island Coprosma laevigata Cheeseman - Rarotonga Coprosma lanceolaris F.Muell. - Lord Howe Island Coprosma linariifolia (Hook.f.) Hook.f. - mikimiki, yellow wood - New Zealand A.Gray - Oahu Coprosma lucida J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. karamu, a small tree Coprosma lucida var. angustifolia Cheeseman - New Zealand North Island Coprosma lucida var. lucida - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma macrocarpa Cheeseman large-seeded coprosma - New Zealand North Island (incl. Three Kings Islands) A.Gray - Hawaiian Islands W.L.Wagner & Lorence - Marquesas Islands Coprosma microcarpa Hook.f. - New Zealand Coprosma × molokaiensis H.St.John - C. ochracea × C. ternata - Molokai Coprosma montana Hillebr. - Hawaii, eastern Maui Coprosma moorei F.Muell. ex Rodway - Tasmania, Victoria Coprosma myrtifolia Noronha - Java Coprosma neglecta Cheeseman - New Zealand North Island Coprosma nephelephila J.Florence - Marquesas Islands Coprosma niphophila Orchard - New Zealand South Island, New South Wales Coprosma nitida Hook.f. - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales W.R.B.Oliv. - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales W.R.B.Oliv. - Vanuatu Coprosma obconica Kirk Coprosma obconica subsp. distantia de Lange & R.O.Gardner - New Zealand North Island Coprosma obconica subsp. obconica - New Zealand Coprosma ochracea W.R.B.Oliv. - Hawaiian Islands Coprosma oliveri Fosberg - Robinson Crusoe Island Coprosma papuensis W.R.B.Oliv. Coprosma papuensis subsp. discolor (P.Royen) R.O.Gardner - New Guinea Coprosma papuensis subsp. mopaensis R.O.Gardner - New Guinea Coprosma papuensis subsp. papuensis - New Guinea Coprosma parviflora Hook.f. - Leafy Coprosma - New Zealand Coprosma pedicellata Molly - New Zealand Coprosma perpusilla Colenso Coprosma perpusilla subsp. perpusilla - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma perpusilla subsp. subantarctica Orchard - Macquarie Island, Antipodes Islands A.Gray - Fiji Coprosma petiolata Hook.f. - Kermadec Islands Coprosma petriei Cheeseman - mirror plant - New Zealand Coprosma pilosa Endl. - Norfolk Island W.R.B.Oliv. - New Zealand South Island (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma prisca W.R.B.Oliv. - Lord Howe Island Coprosma propinqua A.Cunn. - mingimingi Coprosma propinqua var. latiuscula Allan - New Zealand W.R.B.Oliv. - Chatham Islands Coprosma propinqua var. propinqua - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma pseudociliata G.T.Jane - New Zealand Coprosma pseudocuneata W.R.B.Oliv. - New Zealand A.Gray - Hawaiian Islands Coprosma pumila Hook.f. - Tasmania, Victoria Coprosma putida C.Moore & F.Muell. - Lord Howe Island Coprosma pyrifolia (Hook. & Arn.) Skottsb. - Juan Fernández Islands Coprosma quadrifida (Labill.) Rob. - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales Coprosma raiateensis J.W.Moore - Raiatea Coprosma rapensis F.Br. - Tuha'a Pae, Pitcairn Islands Coprosma repens A.Rich. - taupata, mirror plant - native to New Zealand, naturalized in Australia (Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia) Coprosma reticulata J.Florence - Marquesas Islands Coprosma rhamnoides A.Cunn. - twiggy coprosma - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) A.Gray - Hawaii Coprosma rigida Cheeseman - New Zealand Coprosma robusta Raoul - karamu - New Zealand, Chatham Is., naturalized in Australia (Tasmania, Victoria) Coprosma rotundifolia A.Cunn. - New Zealand (incl. Stewart Island) Coprosma rubra Petrie - New Zealand Coprosma rugosa Cheeseman - needle-leaved mountain coprosma - New Zealand, Antipodes Islands Rech. - Samoa Coprosma serrulata Hook.f. ex Buchanan - New Zealand South Island J.W.Moore - Raiatea Coprosma spathulata A.Cunn. Coprosma spathulata subsp. hikuruana de Lange & Heenan - New Zealand North Island Coprosma spathulata subsp. spathulata - New Zealand North Island Hillebr. - Maui Coprosma strigulosa Lauterb. - Samoa Coprosma sundana Miq. - Java Coprosma × tadgellii W.R.B.Oliv. - C. nitida × C. nivalis - Victoria Coprosma tahitensis A.Gray - Tahiti, Tuha'a Pae Coprosma talbrockiei L.B.Moore & R.Mason - Victoria, New Zealand South Island W.L.Wagner & Lorence - Marquesas Islands Coprosma tenuicaulis Hook. - swamp coprosma - New Zealand Coprosma tenuifolia Cheeseman - wavy-leaved coprosma - New Zealand North Island W.R.B.Oliv. - Molokai Fosberg - Tuha'a Pae Coprosma virescens Petrie - New Zealand Coprosma waima A.P.Druce - New Zealand North Island Coprosma waimeae Wawra - Kauai Coprosma wallii Petrie - New Zealand South Island Coprosma wollastonii Wernham Coprosma wollastonii var. epiphytica (P.Royen) R.O.Gardner - New Guinea Coprosma wollastonii var. novoguineensis (Merr. & L.M.Perry) R.O.Gardner - New Guinea Coprosma wollastonii var. wollastonii - Sulawesi, New Guinea
References
External links Coprosma specimens and botanical drawings in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Entry in Te Ara: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 1966 Coprosma description: Landcare Research Multi-access key to the Coprosma of New Zealand