''Ceodes brunoniana'' (synonym ''Pisonia brunoniana'') is a species of

flowering Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

in the family

Nyctaginaceae Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a distinctive fr ...

that is native to northern

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, Australia's

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

, and the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

. The common names in New Zealand are parapara or birdcatcher tree.

Description

''Ceodes brunoniana'' is a small tree, spreading to or more tall. The wood is soft and the branches are brittle. The large leaves are opposite or ternate,

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

, and glossy, entire (simple with smooth margins), and obtuse to rounded at apex. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

paniculate In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a pa ...

, many-flowered, and the flowers are unisexual. The very sticky fruits, in which small birds are often trapped, are narrowly ellipsoidal, and long, having five ribs. In the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

, the sticky seeds of a related species, ''

Pisonia grandis ''Pisonia grandis'', the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the ''Bougainvillea'' family, Nyctaginaceae. Description The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that matur ...

'', regularly causes seabird deaths, and research suggests that the seeds evolved to be transferred on the plumage of seabirds to distant islands, enabling the long-distance dispersal of the species. The situation may be similar with ''P. brunoniana''.

Distribution in New Zealand

In New Zealand, ''Ceodes brunoniana'' grows in coastal forest on

Raoul Island Raoul Island (''Sunday Island''; ) is the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, south south-west of 'Ata Island of Tonga and north north-east of New Zealand's North Island. It has been the source of vigorous volcanic activit ...

in the Kermadec group, on the

Three Kings Islands 3 (three) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cul ...

, and in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

in scattered locations from Whangape Harbour to

Mangawhai Mangawhai is a township at the south-west extent of the Mangawhai Harbour, or Mangawhai Estuary, in Northland, New Zealand. The adjacent township of Mangawhai Heads is 5 km north-east, on the lower part of the harbour. Kaiwaka is 13 ...

. Historically, it grew near

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, on the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...

and at

East Cape East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is at the northern end of the Gisborne District of the North Island. East Cape was originally named "Cape East" by British explorer James Cook during his 1769–1779 voy ...

. It is now mainly found on offshore islands, especially rodent-free islands, where it often forms an important understorey component of mixed-broadleaf forest. The plant is almost extinct in the North Island, partly because the large leaves of ''C. brunoniana'' are eagerly eaten by browsing animals such as

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s and feral

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

. The plant is reasonably common in cultivation as a decorative tree in New Zealand, especially in the northern North Island. Two variegated cultivars are sold as ''C. brunoniana'' in New Zealand nurseries, although one of these, which has leaves extensively marbled with white, may in fact be '' C. umbellifera'', a similar species which occurs throughout the tropical

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

In Hawaii

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where it is known as ''pāpala kēpau'', ''C. brunoniana'' is most common in dry to mesic habitats. Although abundant in certain locations, such as Kīpuka Puaulu, it has a relatively restricted distribution compared to the related species '' Rockia sandwicensis'' and ''C. umbellifera''. The sticky fruits were employed by the Hawaiian ''kia manu'' (bird catchers) to trap birds in order to collect feathers for capes and other objects.

Notes

References

* * * Metcalf, Laurie, 2002. ''A Photographic Guide to Trees of New Zealand''. Auckland: New Holland. * Salmon, J.T., 1986. ''The Native Trees of New Zealand''. Wellington: Heinneman Reed. * ''Flora of Australia'' Onlin
''Pisonia brunoniana''
Retrieved 3 May 2007. * ''Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database'', Bishop Museum. URL
''Papala kepau''
Retrieved 3 May 2007. * ''New Zealand Plant Conservation Network'', URL
''Pisonia brunoniana''
Retrieved 3 October 2010. * ''Plants of Hawaii'', URL

Retrieved 3 May 2007. {{Taxonbar, from=Q65933970 brunoniana Flora of Hawaii Flora of the Kermadec Islands Flora of Lord Howe Island Flora of the North Island Trees of Hawaii Trees of New Zealand Flora without expected TNC conservation status Plants described in 1833 Taxa named by Stephan Endlicher