Coprosma rhamnoides A.Cunn.
Type locality: "Banks of the Keri-Keri river". Type; K, R. Cunningham, 1834.
Spreading much-branched shrub up to 1-(2) m. tall; branches stiff, rather slender, ± divaricate; bark reddish-brown; branchlets finely pubescent. Lvs often fascicled on short branchlets; petioles 1-2-(3) mm., pubescent. Stipules very small, suboblong, obtuse, pubescent, surmounted by conspicuous sharp denticle. Lamina coriac. to submembr., glab., orbicular to broad-ovate to broadly ovate-oblong (young lvs linear-lanceolate or of adult form), obtuse or rounded to truncate to acute, sts apiculate; 7-12 × 4-14 mm., us. showing some diversity on an individual plant; margins us. thickened. Reticulations of veins evident, at least below. ♂ solitary or 2-4 together on short branchlets; calyx 0; corolla funnelform, lobes c. 4 mm. long, > tube, ovate, acute. ♀ solitary on short branchlets; calyx-teeth minute; corolla tubular, lobes narrow, acute, ± = tube. Drupe dark crimson to almost black, depressed-globose, 3-4 mm. diam.
DIST.: Three Kings, N., S., St. Lowland to lower montane forest and shrubland throughout.
A polymorphic sp. deserving of closer study. Cunningham's description is: "foliis (parvis) obovato-rotundatis obtusis petiolatis glabris margine revolutis tenuissime ciliatis, petiolis ramulisque villosis, floribus axillaribus solitariis, ramis brachiatis rigidis patentibus dependentibus deflexis." The type consists of 2 branching pieces now almost devoid of lvs.
C. concinna Col. in T. N. Z. I. 16, 1884, 330 was described from "Dry woods between Norsewood and Dannevirke . . . where it is plentiful, 1876-1883: W. C." The description includes: "bark smooth, yellowish-brown; branchlets short . . . filiform, arcuate, pubescent; leaves few, scattered, 3-4 lines diameter . . . blade abruptly decurrent, petiole 1 line long . . . stipules acuminate acute, pubescent. Flowers very small . . . Drupes underneath on lateral branchlets . . . globose, shining, 2 lines diameter, dark port-wine colour, often 4-6, sometimes 10-18, together in a dense semi-cluster". The type, at W, has lvs 3-5-(6) × 3-5 mm.
C. heterophylla Col. in T. N. Z. I. 18, 1886, 263 was described from specimens collected "In thick, dry woods near Norsewood . . . 1885: W. C." The description incudes: "Branches long loose, and very slender, thickly pubescent (as are also branchlets, stipules, and petioles) with short white hairs; branchlets opposite, long, almost filiform, arcuate . . . Leaves few . . . rhomboidal, suborbicular, lanceolate, and narrowly linear, 3-4 lines long, ⅓- 3 lines broad, tips acute . . . Drupe lateral, solitary on a short peduncle . . . globose, 2 lines diameter, purple-black . . . It is a curious and striking plant in its foliage, from their extreme diversity; all the shapes mentioned above being often found on one branchlet. Its long, drooping branches are by far the most slender of all the species of the genus known to me". There are 2 sheets at W, neither with a Colenso label. The lvs are as described by Colenso. Oliver (loc. cit. 90) dismisses the name as an absolute synonym of C. rhamnoides, but the specimens closely approach his C. polymorpha.
C. orbiculata Col. in T. N. Z. I. 22, 1890, 465 was described from specimens collected in "Shaded forests south of Dannevirke . . . 1889: W.C." The description includes: "bark smooth, light-brown; branches short . . . branchlets small, very slender, pubescent; hairs short, light-grey. Leaves numerous, orbicular, 3-4 lines diameter, often a little broader than long, sometimes minutely apiculate . . . light-green on both sides . . . Stipules small, connate, toothed. Flowers: Male, mostly on small branchlets, axillary and lateral, opposite, 2 together (sometimes solitary), shortly peduncled." The type folder in W, has 2 sheets, with a note "All Coprosma from 1 tree, Sept. 2/90". The If-range is (5)-8-9 × (5)-8-9 mm., rather uniformly suborbicular.
Oliver (loc. cit. 90) discusses the diversity of If-form, and observes: "As a general rule the leaves decrease in size from north to south. The largest-leaved forms come from Little Barrier Island . . . On the hillsides surrounding Wellington Harbour are often found dense low shrubs of C. rhamnoides, with reddish brown bark, the leaves a paler green, and the wood a deeper yellow than the prevalent form. Although indistinguishable by their leaves some plants on Little Barrier Island bear red, oblong drupes 6 mm. long and other dark crimson, globose drupes 4 mm. long . . . A large shade leaf from Little Barrier Island measured: blade 17 by 17 mm, petiole 4 mm."