PLANT IDENTIFICATION
Excellent — here’s your refined version containing only the species you actually need to know for tomorrow’s practical 🌿
Each follows the 3-sentence “exam answer” structure your lecturer expects:
Name → Key ID feature(s) → Ecology/reproduction fact
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1. Kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides)
This is Kahikatea – it has fine, soft, scale-like leaves and a tall straight trunk. It’s New Zealand’s tallest native tree, found in swampy lowland forests. Its orange fleshy receptacles are eaten by birds that disperse its seeds.
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2. Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum)
This is Rimu – it has drooping red-tinged foliage and red-brown flaky bark. It’s a dioecious canopy or subcanopy conifer common in both islands. Its seeds grow on fleshy stalks and are dispersed by kererū.
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3. Tōtara (Podocarpus totara)
This is Tōtara – it has sharp juvenile leaves and stringy red-brown bark. It’s a canopy tree widespread through both islands and valued for durable timber. It produces small red fleshy cones eaten by birds.
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4. Tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides)
This is Tanekaha – it has flat, leaf-like phylloclades instead of true leaves. It’s a gymnosperm of northern North Island forests. It reproduces by cones and is often called the “celery pine.”
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5. Pukatea (Laurelia novae-zelandiae)
This is Pukatea – it has glossy serrated leaves and large buttressed roots. It grows in swamp forests of the North and northern South Islands. The buttress roots stabilise it in wet soils and help with gas exchange.
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6. Kawakawa (Piper excelsum)
This is Kawakawa – it has heart-shaped aromatic leaves often covered in insect holes. It’s a dioecious understory shrub common in coastal and lowland forest. Its orange fruit attract birds which disperse the seeds.
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7. Kānuka (Kunzea robusta)
This is Kānuka – it has tiny soft leaves and clusters of small fluffy white flowers. It’s an early successional shrub or small tree common NZ-wide. Its seed capsules fall off soon after flowering.
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8. Mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium)
This is Mānuka – it has small prickly leaves and larger flat white or pink flowers. It’s an early successional shrub found throughout New Zealand. Its woody seed capsules stay on the plant for many months.
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9. Tītoki (Alectryon excelsus)
This is Tītoki – it has glossy pinnate leaves and red capsules that split open to reveal shiny black seeds. It’s a subcanopy tree found in the North Island and northern South Island. Its fruit are eaten and dispersed by birds.
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10. Kohekohe (Dysoxylum spectabile)
This is Kohekohe – it has glossy pinnate leaves and white fragrant flowers that grow directly from the trunk. It’s a coastal to lowland subcanopy tree of the North Island. It flowers in winter, providing nectar for native birds.
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11. Red Mapou (Myrsine australis)
This is Red Mapou – it has reddish stems and small leathery entire leaves. It’s a dioecious subcanopy shrub common throughout New Zealand. Its small black fruits are bird-dispersed.
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12. Karamū (Coprosma robusta)
This is Karamū – it has opposite glossy leaves and large orange-red berries. It’s a dioecious shrub of forest margins and regenerating bush. Its fruit are eaten and spread by birds.
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13. Twiggy Coprosma (Coprosma rhamnoides)
This is Twiggy Coprosma – it has tiny leaves and a tangled divaricating form. It’s a small shrub of forest edges and open scrub. Its orange fruit are bird-dispersed.
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14. Tarata / Lemonwood (Pittosporum eugenioides)
This is Tarata – it has wavy lemon-scented leaves with fine serrations. It’s a subcanopy tree common throughout NZ. Its sticky seed capsules split to release black seeds.
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15. Kaikōmako (Pennantia corymbosa)
This is Kaikōmako – it has a divaricating juvenile form and large adult leaves. It’s a subcanopy tree found NZ-wide. The juvenile form protects it from browsing until it reaches light.
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16. Kauri (Agathis australis)
This is Kauri – it has a massive column-like trunk, flaky bark, and opposite leathery leaves. It grows in Northland and Waikato forests as an emergent canopy tree. It’s a cone-bearing gymnosperm producing resin instead of fruit.
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17. Rimu vs Kahikatea (comparison potential)
Learn the contrast: Rimu has drooping foliage and reddish bark, Kahikatea is upright with fine scales and smooth grey bark. Rimu grows on well-drained slopes; Kahikatea in swamps. Both are bird-dispersed podocarps.
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18. Tōtara vs Kauri (comparison potential)
Tōtara has spiky juvenile leaves and stringy bark; Kauri has flat opposite leaves and flaky “hammer” bark. Both are conifers but occupy different habitats – Kauri in northern clay forests, Tōtara on drier hills.
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19. Mānuka vs Kānuka (core ID pair)
Mānuka has prickly leaves, large flat flowers, and persistent woody capsules; Kānuka has soft leaves, smaller fluffy flowers, and capsules that fall quickly. Both are early successional and colonise disturbed ground.
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20. Pukatea vs Kahikatea (wet-forest pair)
Pukatea has serrated leaves and buttressed roots; Kahikatea has scale leaves and a straight trunk. Both live in swampy soils, but Pukatea is a flowering tree while Kahikatea is a conifer.