''Dracophyllum traversii'', commonly known as mountain neinei, grass tree, and pineapple tree is a species 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 ...
in the heath family
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...
. It is a
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
tree (or, in some cases, a shrub)
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to New Zealand. It reaches a height of and has leaves which form tufts at the end of its branches. It has a lifespan of between 500 and 600 years.
Similar to some other ''
Dracophyllum
''Dracophyllum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are 61 species in the genus, mostly shrubs, but also cushion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledon ...
'' species, it has a
candelabra
A candelabrum (plural candelabra but also used as the singular form) is a candle holder with multiple arms. "Candelabra" can be used to describe a variety of candle holders including chandeliers. However, candelabra can also be distinguished as b ...
-shaped
canopy
Canopy may refer to:
Plants
* Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests)
* Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes
Religion and ceremonies
* Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...
; long, thin, green leaves; and a prominent pyramid-shaped
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 ...
. It has tiny red flowers, between 500 and 3000 on each
panicle
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 p ...
, and equally tiny reddish-brown dry fruit. ''D. traversii'' inhabits a variety of forest and
shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
types, from lowland to subalpine, in gorges, on cliffs, and on mountainsides. It has a range that stretches from Waima forest at the top of New Zealand's
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 ...
, down to
Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
and
Fiordland
Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
in the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
.
It was first described by
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...
in 1867, and was placed by
Walter Oliver in the subgenus ''Dracophyllum'' in 1928. A
cladistic
Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...
analysis using genetic sequencing was published in 2010, revealing that ''D. traversii'' was indeed related to ''D. latifolium'' as Oliver had thought. The status of ''D. pyramidale'' as a synonym is disputed by taxonomic institutions and botanists, with
Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
not recognising the positions of the New Zealand Organism Register,
New Zealand Plant Conversation Network, and various New Zealand
botanists
This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that aut ...
.
Description
''Dracophyllum traversii'' is a shrub or tree that grows to a height of tall, though those growing in exposed subalpine areas often do not reach . Similar to
''D. elegantissimum'', it forms a candelabra-like canopy with its branches, which have flaky light brown bark. Its leaves, which concentrate at the ends of branches like species in the family
Bromeliaceae
The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...
'','' are , leathery, and very finely toothed such that there are 18 to 20 teeth every .
Plants which grow at the upper reaches of the
tree line
The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
have a grey wax on their leaves, as well as change colour during Winter from green to a reddish-purple, as a result of
anthocyanin
Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are solubility, water-soluble vacuole, vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart named a chemical compou ...
s.
It
flowers
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 ...
from October to February with densely packed long panicle (branched
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 ...
), though those growing in full sun may be shorter, producing 500–3000 or more red (though sometimes green) flowers on each. The panicle has a central axis in diameter with branches at right angles. It is covered in inflorescence
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale.
Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...
s (modified leaves) which are and light green with a white colour at their base and pink at the tip. Its flowers are
recaulescent and suspended off of tiny 4.0–4.8 by 0.5–0.7 mm bracteoles and 0.5–2.0 mm long hairy pedicels.
The
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106
Etymology
The term ''sepalum'' ...
s are a red (sometimes green) colour, egg-shaped, and 1.2–3.0 by 1.1–2.5 mm, which is the same length as the
corolla tube
Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''coroll ...
. The
corolla (petals) itself is red, though the 2.7–3.0 by 4–5 mm bell-shaped tube is occasionally white. Its lobes are reflexed and are 2.5–2.8 by 2.0–2.5 mm. The
stamen
The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...
s occur at the top of the corolla tube and consist of a 1.8–2.0 mm long pink (becoming yellow) oblong anther suspended off of a 1.0–1.5 mm long filament. It has a 1.4–1.5 by 1.8–2.0 mm hairless, almost globe-shaped,
ovary
The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...
and 1.0–1.5 by 1.0–1.5
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
y scales. The
stigmas are five-lobed and have 2–3 mm long styles.
It fruits from December to May producing yellow-brown coloured 0.95–1 mm long egg-shaped seeds. Surrounding the seeds are red to purple-brown 1.9–2.0 by 2.8–3.0 mm hairless fruit. ''D. traversii'' is
morphologically very similar to ''
D. latifolium'', but differs by its more robust
growth habit
Habit, equivalent to habitus in some applications in biology, refers variously to aspects of behaviour or structure, as follows:
*In zoology (particularly in ethology), ''habit'' usually refers to aspects of more or less predictable ''behaviour' ...
and leaf and flower characteristics. Its leaves are
serrulate
The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...
as opposed to the serrate leaves of ''D. latifolium,'' and it has larger, hairless, sepals, as well as a longer and wider corolla tube and globe-shaped ovary. Its seeds are also much smaller than that of ''D. latifolium.''
File:Dracophyllum traversii inflorescence.jpg, Flowering inflorescence
File:Dracophyllum traversii flower detail side.jpg, The very small individual flowers
File:Dracophyllum traversii flaky bark.jpg, The flaky bark on the trunk
File:Dracophyllum traversii 112664193.jpg, A fruited inflorescence
Taxonomy
''Dracophyllum traversii'' was first described by
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...
in 1867,
in his Handbook of New Zealand Flora. He described it as "Much the largest species of the genus," and designated the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
as one he and
J. Haast had collected 914 m (3000 ft) above sea level on the
Arthur's pass
Arthur's Pass, previously called Camping Flat then Bealey Flats, and for some time officially Arthurs Pass, is a township in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the Selwyn district. It is a popular base for explori ...
in the province of
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
, 1865.
The
New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN) is a non-governmental organisation devoted to the protection and restoration of New Zealand's indigenous plant life, including vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts and lichens.
Descr ...
regards ''Dracophyllum pyramidale'', a similar plant first described by W. R. B. Oliver in 1952,
as a synonym of ''D. traversii''.
Anthony Peter Druce first merged the two species in an unpublished check-list in 1980.
Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
, however, regards them as separate species, ''D. traversii'' occurring in the South Island and ''D. pyramidale'' in the North Island.
One 1987 study on the flora of north-west Nelson claimed the only visible difference between ''D. traversii and D. pyramidale'' was a
wax
Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...
on the surface of the leaves of ''D. traversii''. Stephanus Venter revised the genus in 2021, maintaining the synonymy of ''D. pyramidale,'' citing the 1994 "Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand," and describing the latter as simply a more robust form of ''D. traversii,'' with a lower altitude habitat and sheaths and inflorescences of varying lengths.''
''
Etymology
''Dracophyllum'' means 'dragon leaf', drawing from its similarity to the
Dragon Tree from the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
. The specific epithet ''traversii'' refers to
William Thomas Locke Travers
William Thomas Locke Travers (January 1819 – 23 April 1903) was a New Zealand lawyer, politician, explorer, and naturalist.
Early life
Travers was born near Newcastle West, County Limerick, Ireland, either on 9 or 19 January 1819. His father ...
, a New Zealand lawyer, politician, explorer, and naturalist who lived in New Zealand from 1849. He conducted a study of the flora of the
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
,
Marlborough
Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to:
Places Australia
* Marlborough, Queensland
* Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993
* Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...
, and
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
regions.''
''
Classification and evolution
''Dracophyllum traversii's'' placement within the genus ''Dracophyllum'' was first attempted by
Walter Oliver in a 1928 article of the ''
''. Later, in 1952, he revised his work in a supplement, placing it in the subgenus ''Dracophyllum'' (referred to as ''Eudracophyllum'') and in a group with ''D. latifolium'', though basing his research purely on morphological characteristics. Wagstaff et al. 2010 used
cladistics
Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to Taxonomy (biology), biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesiz ...
to produce a
phylogenetic tree
A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA. In ...
of the tribe
Richeeae and other species using genetic sequencing. They found that only the subgenus ''Oreothamnus'' and the tribe Richeeae were
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
and that there is strong genetic evidence for ''D.'' ''traversii's'' clade. The
paraphyly
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
of the genus ''
Dracophyllum
''Dracophyllum'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are 61 species in the genus, mostly shrubs, but also cushion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledon ...
,'' as well as the
polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which ar ...
of the closely related genus ''
Richea,'' they argued, suggested that a major taxonomic revision was required.
Venter 2021 undertook this revision.''
'' ''D. traversii's'' current placement can be summarised in the
cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...
at right.
File:Dracophyllum traversii snow.jpg, ''D. traversii'' covered in snow on Arthur's pass, where the first type specimen was taken.
File:Dracophyllum traversii Northern form.jpg, The northern form of ''D. traversii'' near Gisborne
Distribution and habitat
''Dracophyllum traversii'' is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to New Zealand and is found in both the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
Islands. 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 ...
it can be found from Waima Forest south to
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of T� ...
but also stretches east to the
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 also found in the
Coromandel,
Great
Great may refer to:
Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
* Artel Great (bo ...
and
Little Barrier Islands, as well as areas in the
Central volcanic Plateau.
In the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, it is found in North-west
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
down to
Fiordland
Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
and
Central Otago. It grows through a large vertical region, from sea level up to on 3–75 degrees steep
gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...
s. Common areas it can be found on include: gorges, mountainsides, saddles, and cliffs. Full sun is preferred, though it will also grow in some shade.
The
New Zealand Threat Classification System
The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand.
The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...
classified it in 2023 as "Not Threatened," giving it an estimated population of at least 100,000.
''Dracophyllum traversii'' inhabits lowland and subalpine
shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
, consisting of either simply ''
Olearia lacunosa (lancewood tree daisy);'' or ''
Olearia colensoi (tupare),
D. longifolium (inaka)'', and ''
Coprosma
''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 ''Copros ...
;'' or just ''
Nothofagus menziesii (silver beech),'' as well as lowland and subalpine forests, made up of several types. These include: ''Nothofagus menziesii,
Lepidothamnus intermedius
''Lepidothamnus intermedius'', commonly known as the yellow silver pine, is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Distribution
This species is found in the North Island and in western parts of the So ...
(yellow silver pine),'' and ''
Weinmannia racemosa'' ''(kāmahi)'' forest; or ''Nothofagus menziesii'', ''Phyllocladus glaucus (toatoa), and Weinmannia racemosa'' forest'';'' or ''
Libocedrus plumosa (kawaka),
Knightia excelsa
''Knightia excelsa'', commonly known as rewarewa (from Māori), is an evergreen tree endemic to the low elevation and valley forests of New Zealand. It is found in the North Island and at the tip of the South Island in the Marlborough Sounds (4 ...
(rewarewa), and
Astelia fragrans (bush flax)'' forest; or ''Nothofagus menziesii,'' and ''Gahnia rigida (Gahnia) forest;'' or ''
Phyllocladus alpinus (mountain toatoa)'' and ''
Libocedrus bidwillii (pāhautea) forest.'' Soil types in these areas are made up of clay or
clay loam from
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
,
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
,
graywacke
Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size lithic fragments set i ...
or
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...
.
Ecology
Pests
The botanist Peter Haase conducted an ecological study, published in 1986, of ''D. traversii'' in Arthur's pass.
Kea
The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...
were found to feed on ''D. traversii'' during the winter, mainly eating the young foliage and
shoot
Shoot most commonly refers to:
* Shoot (botany), an immature plant or portion of a plant
* Shooting, the firing of projectile weapons
* Photo shoot, a photography session; an event wherein a photographer takes photographs
Shoot may also refer t ...
apices, which are also eaten by an unidentified larva. Scales in the genus ''
Coelostomidia'' were identified laying their eggs under old bark and scars on leaves. The fruit, however, are almost not preyed upon at all, with only an estimated 0.01% eaten by larvae.
Phenology
The seeds are dispersed by wind,
and although they are not specially adapted to do so, their low mass means that they can still travel a sufficient distance. Haase calculated that seeds from a height of and in a wind speed of would travel around , so twice that of the height from which they were dispersed. Since each panicle contains around 2500 flowers, he estimated that each one produced 25,000 filled seeds, and a plant with a maximum of 30 of such panicles could hence produce 750,000 seeds. He also estimated that ''D. traversii'' has a lifespan of 500 – 600 years, while the
juvenile stage takes between 100 and 150 years.
It is
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
, losing its leaves during the growing season, mainly from December through to March and has an
average annual wood increment for adult trees of 0.4 – 0.49 mm and 0.6 – 0.9 mm for juvenile trees. Because it is deciduous the area under trees is often covered with leaf litter, in some places to or more deep, which prohibits the growth of other plants. Typically leaves are shed after six years and full growth takes 2 – 3 growing seasons, with each occurring from around September to April.
Venter noted in his 2009 thesis that he had only observed one bird
pollinating
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; birds ...
''D. traversii,
Anthornis melanura'' (the New Zealand Bellbird), which was the first time any bird had been recorded doing so.
Germination of seeds is generally sporadic, Haase managed to attain an 80% success rate and time of just 18 days, though only after 6–8 weeks of moist 4˚C storage. The seeds will not germinate without light.
Cultivation
''Dracophyllum traversii'' is best propagated from seed and needs a constantly moist soil, though will likely be very slow growing and difficult to establish. It grows best in a semi-shaded area in
humus
In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...
; plants that are collected in the wild generally perish a few months after being planted in cultivation.
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15376108, from2=Q15376298
traversii
Endemic flora of New Zealand
Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker