Muehlenbeckia astonii Petrie

국표에 없다.

Muehlenbeckia astonii or shrubby tororaro is an endemic New Zealand shrub in the family Polygonaceae. It has distinctive small heart-shaped deciduous leaves amidst a tangle of wiry interlocking branches. Although common in cultivation around the world, it is extremely rare and threatened in the wild.

 

Shrubby tororaro has very small leaves (only 2–15 millimetres (0.079–0.591 in) wide) on a 3–10 millimetres (0.12–0.39 in) brown stalk, growing in clusters of two to three (sometimes five), or alternating along the longer branchlets. The leaves are usually dented at the tip and heart-shaped. They are bright green above and pale below.

Unlike most New Zealand plants M. astonii is leafless in winter. It grows from a distinct trunk, and has many fine reddish brown to orange flexible branches that zigzag around one another to form a dense, interwoven ball, generally 2–3 metres (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) around, and sometimes 4 × 4 metres. Older plants have stems like canes growing from the interior. Plants have been recorded living for over 80 years.

Its flowers, appearing December to January, are tiny and grow in clusters of two to four, less than 10 millimetres (0.39 in) in diameter, and are greenish to white or pinkish white. The plant is gynodioecious: individuals have either female flowers or what have been described as 'inconstant male' hermaphrodites. 'Inconstant males' can self-fertilise, but their seeds have less than 5% viability. Isolated female plants produce infertile fruits, or hybridise with other Muehlenbeckia species nearby.

Fruits appear in October to June. The seed is a dark three-sided nut, about 2–2.5 millimetres (0.079–0.098 in) long, dull not glossy (which distinguishes it from the scrub pōhuehue or torararo, M. complexa). The seed is surrounded by the remnants of the tepals, which swell into a white fruit in just 10–15 days. These fruits are sugary and edible, eaten by birds and lizards (which disperse the seeds), and by mice (which pulverise and kill the seed). Seeds can persist for up to four years in the soil. The plant is an important host for several endemic moth species, and in some cases their sole host.

Muehlenbeckia astonii - Wikipedia

 

 

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