''Coprosma'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the
family Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...
. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands,
Borneo,
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
,
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...
.
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 small shrubs with tiny
evergreen leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
, but a few are small trees and 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 fruit is a non-poisonous juicy berry, most often bright orange (but can be dark red or even light blue), 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 (also found in other genera of Rubiaceae) is that the leaves contain hollows in the axils of the veins; in these, and on the leaf
stipules, nitrogen-fixing bacteria grow. In addition the hollows, or
domatia, encourage certain kinds of
mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...
s to take up residence, which feed on and reduce parasitic fungi which attack the leaf.
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
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
*'
Merr. & L.M.Perry - New Guinea
*''
Coprosma × buchananii''
Kirk - ''C. crassifolia'' × ''C. robusta'' - southern New Zealand North Island
*'
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
Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...
*''
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
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
*''
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
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 ...
, 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
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
,
Victoria,
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
*''
Coprosma hookeri''
Stapf -
Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
*''
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
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 ...
)
*'
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
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...
*''
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
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
*''
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
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
)
*''
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
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
*''
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
Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
, New Guinea
References
External links
''Coprosma'' specimens and botanical drawings in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaEntry in Te Ara: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 1966Coprosma description: Landcare ResearchMulti-access key to the ''Coprosma'' of New Zealand
{{Authority control
Anthospermeae
Rubiaceae genera
Dioecious plants
Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster
Taxa named by Georg Forster