Coprosma: from the Greek kopros 'dung' and osme 'smell', referring to the foul smell of the species, literally 'dung smell'
parviflora: From the Latin parvus 'small, puny' and flores 'flowers', meaning small-flowered.
Current Conservation Status
2012 - Not Threatened
Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB
Previous Conservation Status
2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Not Threatened
Coprosma parviflora Hook.f.
Bushy shrub in Northland with flattened wide angled branches bearing abundant clusters of pairs of small oval leaves. Twigs fuzzy towards tip. Leaves with tiny hairs underneath (best detected using tongue), 7-12mm long. Fruit white, pink or dark violet.
Vascular - Native
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank
is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Endemic. Three Kings Islands, and the North Island from Te Paki south to Auckland City (Remuera) but now extinct in the Auckland area. Still extant from the Kaipara Harbour north.
August - September (- October)
March - April (- October)
2n = 132
Life Cycle and Dispersal
Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Where To Buy
Occasionally sold by retail plant and specialist native plant nurseries.
References and further reading
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309
This page last updated on 15 Aug 2014