Discaria toumatou
Matagouri | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rhamnaceae |
Genus: | Discaria |
Species: | D. toumatou
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Binomial name | |
Discaria toumatou | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Discaria toumatou, commonly called matagouri, tūmatakuru, or wild Irishman, is a tangle-branched thorny plant endemic to New Zealand.
Taxonomy and etymology[edit]
This species was described by Étienne Raoul in 1844 from material collected at Akaroa in association with Pteridium esculentum. The generic name Discaria refers to disc-shaped flowers. The Latinised specific epithet Raoul chose, toumatou, is a corruption of the word tūmatakuru, one of the Māori names for this species, which he transcribed as "toumatou-kourou"[2]
The English name matagouri is another corruption of tūmatakuru. Other names in Te Reo include tūmatakuri and tūturi.[1] Another name is "wild Irishman"; the writer Samuel Butler in 1863 recalled "…a very uncomfortable prickly shrub, which they call Irishman, and which I do not like the look of at all."[3]
Description[edit]
Matagouri is a tangle-branched, extremely spiny, divaricating shrub; sometimes it can grow to be a small tree up to five metres tall with rough grey bark. It is deciduous and has very small leathery leaves mostly in spring and early summer.[3] The glossy green leaves arise at the bases of the spines, which can be several centimetres long.[4] The spines are green when young, later turning grey. Matagouri is the only New Zealand native plant that has spines of this kind.[5]
The flowers are tiny, scented, and white with no petals, only 4–5 triangular petal-like sepals.[3] They appear in October–December, followed in January–March by small three-lobed green to brown fruits.[3]
Distribution[edit]
D. toumatou is common in the eastern South Island and in Chatham Island, and is found in a few coastal localities in the North Island south from the mouth of the Waikato River.[4] It commonly forms thickets in lowland to montane tussock grassland, stony areas, sand dunes, and river beds, and occasionally in subalpine scrubland.[3]
Ecology[edit]
As with other Discaria species, matagouri fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of symbiotic bacteria of the genus Frankia in its roots, and so can grow in nutrient-poor habitats.[4] It often grows in association with mingimingi (Coprosma propinqua), porcupine shrub (Melicytus alpinus, an alpine mahoe), native brooms (Carmichaelia species) and the introduced weed sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa).[5] Matagouri grows slowly, and plants in undisturbed areas can be over 100 years old.[4]
Conservation[edit]
Matagouri is often cleared, burned, or poisoned by farmers to create pasture, but as a native plant it has complete protection on public conservation land and a degree of protection on private land under the Resource Management Act 1991.[4] In a notable case a 400 ha area of matagouri, including trees that may have been 150 years old, was illegally sprayed at the head of Lake Sumner in 2001.[6] It also faces competition from the invasive introduced species gorse and broom, and is attacked in Spring by possums, which can ring-bark entire trees.[4] Although it can resprout after fire, sheep and rabbits combined with regular tussock burning has significantly reduced the once-extensive forests of matagouri that once stood 6 m high.[5]
Cultural uses[edit]
Matagouri spines were used by Māori for tattooing when no better tool was available.[4] In 1997 matagouri, along with other Wellington coastal species, was planted in traffic islands in Petone Esplanade in Lower Hutt.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Flora of New Zealand | Taxon Profile | Discaria toumatou". NZFlora. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- ^ Raoul, E. (1844). "Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande". Annales des sciences naturelles Botanique. 3 (2): 123.
- ^ a b c d e Wilson, Hugh D.; Galloway, Tim (1993). Small-leaved Shrubs of New Zealand. Christchurch: Manuka Press. p. 105.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Matagouri/wild Irishman". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
- ^ a b c Wassilieff, Maggy (24 September 2007). "Shrublands - Shrublands of dry country". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
- ^ Bristow, Robyn (10 August 2001). "Council chides station owners". The Press.
- ^ Nolly, Ross (January–February 2004). "Islands in the City". New Zealand Geographic. 067.