The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Beilschmiedia tarairi

Common Name(s)

Taraire

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

Authority

Beilschmiedia tarairi (A.Cunn.) Benth. et Hook.f. ex Kirk

Family

Lauraceae

Brief Description

Common canopy tree of northern North Island. Leaves large, leathery, oval, silvery underneath, margins curved. Twigs and young leaves with reddish down. Flowers inconspicuous. Fruit very large, dark purple, glossy, held upright, containing a single large elliptical seed which has a network of veins on the papery surface.

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

BEITAR

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Synonyms

Laurus tarairi A.Cunn., Nesodaphne tarairi (A.Cunn.) Hook.f.

Distribution

Endemic. Confined to the North Island where it most common north of Auckland and Thames. However it also occurs in scattered pockets in the west south of Port Waikato to the Kawhia Harbour, inland at Pukemokemoke (near Tauhei), and in the east it occurs very locally from the eastern end of Papatea Bay to East Cape.

Habitat

Common canopy forming tree in lowland and lower montane forests north of Auckland. Often associated with kauri (Agathis australis), and pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), and on basalt rocks and soils puriri (Vitex lucens).

Features

Evergreen tree up to 22 m tall, with very broad canopy crown. Trunk to 1 m diam. Bark smooth, dark brown. Branches stout, spreading. Branchlets, young leaves, petioles and young inflorescences densely clad in reddish brown tomentum. Foliage closely alternate, erecto-patent, simple, leathery. Petioles (8-)10(-12) mm. Leaves (36-)50-72(-85) x (26-)34-48(-56) mm, wide-elliptic to wide-obovate, dark green and glabrous above, bullate, glaucous below, with stout veins covered in reddish brown tomentum, margins entire,, apex rounded, retuse and mucronate. Inflorescence and erect, axillary panicle up to 100 mm long. Flowers sexually perfect, 3-5 mm diam., greenish, often partially clothed in dense reddish-brown tomentum, perianth cleft into 6, stamens 12. Fruit an erect, ellipsoid to ovoid drupe (28-)30(-35) x (14-)16(-18) mm, 1-seeded, pericarp fleshy, dark purple when ripe, covered in waxy glaucous bloom.

Similar Taxa

A very distinct species whose broad, dark-green, bullate leaves with their distinctive glaucous undersides, and large, erect plum-like dark purple fruits serve to immediately distinguish it from all other indigenous trees and shrubs.

Flowering

(September-) November (-December)

Flower Colours

Brown,Green

Fruiting

March - November

Propagation Technique

Easy from fresh seed. Better germination is achieved if the flesh surrounding the seed is cleaned off.

Threats

Not Threatened

Chromosome No.

2n=24

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Fleshy drupes are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 13 Nov 2017