Species distribution
One the right side of the map are the flowering species of interest and on the left are the fruiting species. The horizontal lines indicate the approximate Southern limits for that (or those) species. These limits are only approximate because the closer you get towards the Southern limit for a species the less likely it is to find that species inland. In other words, towards the Southern limit the species is generally only found along the coast.Not all species of interest are shown on this map. Some species, such as kowhai, are actually made up of three different species. Look below the map for species distributions and notes for those species left off this map.
Map of New Zealand showing approximate species distribution
The species not shown on this map, but of interest to Operation Fruit, are flax and kowhai, and the two species selected as scientific controls (because they are not bird pollinated or bird dispersed) pukatea and kanuka.
Kowhai
There are three species of kowhai in New Zealand. The most common one, and also the one generally planted in peoples gardens, is Sophora microphylla. This tree has the widest distribution, growing along riverbanks, forest margins and open spaced, throughout the North, South and Chatham Islands. It is also found in Cuba. The leaves are rather feathery looking and juveniles can often look very twiggy.
Sophora tetraptera is the North Island kowhai, originally found growing from East Cape to the Ruahine ranges and North of Auckland. The flowers are a more golden yellow and both the leaves and the flowers tend to be slightly larger than Sophora microphylla. Sophora tetraptera is also found along stream margins and forest edges.
The last species of kowhai is Sophora prostrata, which as the name suggest, tend to grow prostrate (closer to the ground) in a more shrubby form. The leaves and flowers are much smaller than for the other two species and the branches zigzag. This species can be found growing at higher altitudes (further up a mountain) than the other two species from Marlborough to South Canterbury.
Flax
Phormium tenax has much longer leaves than the mountain flax, Phormium. cookianum, the leaves are also more rigid and the flowers are bigger. Phormium tenax was the flax used by the Maori for fibre, there are many different varieties, and the Maori have names for all the varieties. This flax is most commonly found in swamps whereas mountain flax, Phormium. cookianum, is, as the name suggests, more commonly found at higher altitudes.
The two control species
Kanuka, Kunzea ericoides is used as a control species because it is most likely insect pollinated and wind dispersed. So birds take no hand (or should that be beak) in pollinating the flowers or in spreading the seed. Because kanuka is supposed to be insect pollinated you would expect it to flower during a time when there are lots of insects around to do so, that means it probably won't flower during the winter and autumn when it is too cold for insects to fly. I choose kanuka in preference to manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) because manuka is more commonly propagated into ornamental species and therefore cultivated more often. Manuka also seems to have a much longer flowering period than kanuka. Kanuka is found throughout New Zealand
Pukatea, Laurelia novae-zelandiae, was chosen as a control species because it is both wind pollinated and wind dispersed. This means that it can flower any time it wants to because all it needs is a bit of wind. In Auckland it tends to flower in winter. The seed is a little parasol (like a dandelion seed almost) and uses the wind to get around. This species is found throughout the North Island to Northern Marlborough and Western Nelson in semi-swamp conditions.
Material on this page mainly sourced from Poole and Adams "Trees and shrubs of New Zealand" and Salmon "The native trees of New Zealand".
Return to main page, the species list, the collection dates, or an explanation of Latin names.