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 Caledonia.[1] The name Dracophyllum, meaning dragon-leaf, refers to their strong outward similarity to the unrelated Dracaena, sometimes known as dragon tree. Although dicotyledonous, they resemble primitive monocots with their slender leaves concentrated in clumps at the ends of the branches; they are sometimes called grass-trees.
D. latifolium, neinei or spiderwood. Found in the North Island, from Mangonui southwards to North Taranaki and the Mahia Peninsula, growing from sea level to 1,100 m (Salmon 1973:271). Usually found growing under kauri.
D. lessonianum, wi-wi. Although it can grow up to 10 m high, it most frequently is seen as a straggly shrub.
D. longifolium, inanga or inaka. Growing to 12 m tall, this is the most widespread species in New Zealand, found from sea level up to 1200 m, in subalpine regions, from the middle of the North Island to as far south as the Auckland Islands.
D. mathewsii, D. viride and D. sinclairii are found only in the far north of Tai Tokerau.
D. menziesii is a multi-branched shrub that grows to 2 m. It grows in high rainfall areas in high montane to sub-alpine herbfields in Western Otago, Fiordland and Stewart Island / Rakiura.
D. palustre, 1m tall shrub found only on the west coast (region) of the South Island.[11]
D. patens, 3m tall shrub / tree found only in the North Island.[12]
D. pearsonii, 50cm tall shrub found in boggy and damp areas in the South Island.[13]
D. politum, small cushion found from lowland to subalpine in the South Island.[9] Cushion-like grows up to 0.5m tall and 1m in diameter with small, narrow leaves covering the twigs. Blooms small white flowers from December to March.[14]
D. rosmarinifolium, bushy 1m tall shrub found in both the North and South Islands.[4]
D. scoparium, 4m tall shrub / tree found in the Chatham and Campbell Islands.[15] the species can extend its range to poorly drained area as a stunted shrub. Forms a hybrid swarm with D. longifolium.[16]
D. sinclairii, 6m tall shrub / tree found only in the North Island.[17]
D. strictum, 3m tall shrub / tree found only in coastal parts of the North Island.[18]
D. subulatum, 2m tall shrub found in tussockland in central North Island.[19]
D. townsonii, very similar to the neinei, grows mainly in the Nelson area and the West Coast of the South Island.
D. traversii, mountain neinei. Growing to 13 m tall and found above 750 m in the top half of the South Island, also in scattered places in the North Island.
D. trimorphum, 3m tall shrub / tree found only in North-west Nelson.[20]
D. uniflorum (var. frondosum), 1m tall shrub found in the South Island.[21]
D. uruvilleanum, 8m tall tree found only in the north half on the South Island (Marlborough and North-west Nelson).[10]
Australia
D. sayeri grows near the summit of Mount Bellenden Ker Queensland's second highest peak.
D. macranthum, restricted to the Landsdowne area near Taree on the NSW coast.
D. secundum found in mountainous heath and sheltered lowland gullies on sandstone in the Sydney basin.
D. oceanicum from seaside cliffs near Jervis Bay NSW.
D. minimum, cushion plant from Tasmanian mountains, also widespread in NZ.
Taxonomy
Dracophyllum is a genus in the family Ericaceae published by Labill in Voy. 2: 210. T. 40 (1798), with 61 species and 2 varieties.[22]
Dracophyllum has been found closely related to Richea and Sphenotoma, which are two genera endemic to south-eastern Australia and south-western Australia respectively. The three genera form a prominent clade in the strict consensus tree based on a molecular analysis by Crayn et al. in 1998. Traditionally, Dracophyllum is divided into three subgenera: subgenus Dracophyllum with 20 species found across New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia; subgenus Cordophyllum with one species in New Caledonia; and subgenus Oreothamnus with 29 species in New Zealand and Tasmania.[23]
History
The first two specimens of the genus Dracophyllum were collected by J.R. Forster and his son J. G. A. Forster in March 1773 in Fiordland, New Zealand and described as two different species Epacris longifolia (Dracophyllum longifolium) and Epacris rosmarinifolia (Dracophyllum rosmarinifolium). Now the genus Epacris is used to describe an endemic Australian genus of 40 species other than the one published by the Forsters.
In 1800, the genus name Dracophyllum was used for the first time by Labillardière to describe a plant specimen collected in New Caledonia. Ten years after the first Dracophyllum species was published, Robert Brown divided the genus into two subgenera: Dracophyllum and Sphenotoma based on some distinct morphological traits of corolla, stamens, bracts, and inflorescence. The first full description of the genus Dracophyllum was published by De Candolle in 1838 and was included in the family Epacrideae. In 1844, Hooker gave the first full descriptions of the species and the species relationships, mentioning that Sphenotoma had been raised to genus level by Sweet in 1827. A century later, Dracophyllum (as Eudracophyllum), Oreothamnus had been raised to subgenus level and Cordophyllum was described as a third subgenus by Oliver in 1928. Sphenotoma was removed from the genus.[23]
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