Coprosma

Coprosma
Coprosma rhamnoides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Anthospermeae
Genus: Coprosma
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
Synonyms

Coprosma is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as coprosmas, in the family Rubiaceae. They are found in Borneo, Java, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and smaller islands of the Pacific Ocean as far as the Hawaiian Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands of Chile.

Description

The name Coprosma means "smelling like dung" and refers to the smell (methanethiol) given out by the crushed leaves of a few species.

Many species are shrubs or subshrubs with tiny evergreen leaves, while some are small trees, and some have much larger leaves. The flowers have insignificant petals and are wind-pollinated, with long anthers and stigmas. Most species are dioecious, but some species (particularly ones native to New Zealand) can sometimes have individuals with perfect flowers. Natural hybrids are common. The fruits are non-poisonous juicy berries variously coloured bright orange, red, blue, white, or colourless, most often containing two small seeds. They are good food for birds and those of the larger species were historically eaten by Māori children. A notable feature of the genus is the domatia, hollows on the leaf undersides in the axils of leaf veins, that encourage certain kinds of mites to take up residence, which feed on and reduce parasitic fungi which attack the leaf. Although some early research attributed to the domatia and stipules the ability to harbour nitrogen-fixing bacteria, more rigorous tests found this not to be the case.

Coprosma are in the Rubiaceae (coffee) family and a coffee-like beverage can be brewed from the seeds, although it does not contain any methylxanthines such as caffeine or theophylline.

Species

References

  1. ↑ "Coprosma". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  2. ↑ Forster, Johann Reinhold (1776). Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis: collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis 1772-1775. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.4448.
  3. ↑ Verstraete B, De Block P, Robbrecht E (2025). "A survey of generic names in Rubiaceae (Gentianales) with notes on context and patterns in naming". Taxon. 74 (5): 1153–1171. doi:10.1002/tax.13360.
  4. ↑ Cambie, R.C. (August 1976). "A New Zealand Phytochemical Register — Part III". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 6 (3): 307–379. doi:10.1080/03036758.1976.10421479.
  5. ↑ Cantley, J. T. (2014). Evolution and Historical Biogeography of Pacific Coprosma (Rubiaceae) (Doctor of Philosophy thesis). Hawai'i: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Retrieved 2025-09-21.
  6. ↑ Cantley, J.T.; D. Frohlich; C.T. Martine (2016). "Multiple Records of Monoecy and Leakiness in Dioecious Taxa of Hawaiian Coprosma spp. (Rubiaceae)". Records of the Hawaiian Biological Survey. 118: 9–12. ISSN 2376-3191.
  7. ↑ Gardner, Rhys (2002). "Tony Druces table of hybrid New Zealand coprosmas" (PDF). Auckland Botanical Society Journal. 57: 138-139.
  8. ↑ Oliver, W. R. B (1935). "The genus Coprosma". Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin. 132.
  9. ↑ "Coprosma". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Monks A, O'Connell DM, Lee WG, Bannister JM, KYS, Dickinson JM (2007). "Benefits associated with the domatia mediated tritrophic mutualism in the shrub Coprosma lucida". Oikos. 116 (5): 873–881. Bibcode:2007Oikos.116..873M. doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2007.15654.x.
  11. ↑ Stevenson, Greta (October 1959). "Fixation of Nitrogen by Non-nodulated Seed Plants". Annals of Botany. 23 (4): 622–635. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a083680.
  12. ↑ Silvester, W. B.; Astridge, Sandra (August 1971). "Reinvestigation of Coprosma for ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen". Plant and Soil. 35 (1–3): 647–650. doi:10.1007/BF01372694.
  13. ↑ "Karamu". Herb Federation of New Zealan. 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2026.