Knightia excelsa

Knightia excelsa
	Knightia excelsa
Systematics
Order :	Silver tree-like (Proteales)
Family :	Silver tree family (Proteaceae)
Subfamily :	Grevilleoideae
Tribe :	Roupaleae
Genre :	Knightia
Type :	Knightia excelsa
Scientific name of the genus
	Knightia
	R.Br.
Scientific name of the species
	Knightia excelsa
	( Salisb. ) R.Br.

Knightia excelsa is the only species of the genus Knightia within the silver tree family(Proteaceae). It is native to New Zealand; there the common names are used : Māori: "Rewarewa" and English: "honeysuckle". It thrives in the lowlands and wooded valleys of the North Island of New Zealand and the Marlborough Sounds (41 ° S).

description

Branch with leathery leaves and inflorescences.

Knightia excelsa grows as an evergreen tree and reaches heights of up to 30 meters. It forms a slender treetop . The leaves are alternate. The leathery leaf blade is narrow, oblong with a length of 10 to 15 cm and a width of 2.5 to 3.5 cm. There are no stipules . The flowers stand together in 10 cm long racemose inflorescences . The bright red flowers are 2 to 3.5 cm long.

Others

This species was also called "New Zealand honeysuckle" by early European settlers, but the name fell out of use in favor of the original Māori name . The flowers are a good source of nectar for honey production.

Taxonomy

Knightia excelsa was first published in February 1810 by Robert Brown in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London , Volume 10, p. 193. It is the type species and currently the only species in the genus Knightia .

Illustrations

Illustration from the voyage of HMS Endeavor (1768–1771) by Sydney Parkinson
Illustration by Martha King, 1803? -1897
Illustration from Transactions of the Linnean Society of London , 1811.

Individual evidence

↑ BA Meylan, BG Butterfield: Scanning Electron Microscopy Graphs of New Zealand Woods 2. Knightia excelsa R.Br . In: New Zealand Journal of Botany . II, 1973, pp. 201-12.
↑ First published by wikisource .
↑ Knightia. In: Index Nominum Genericorum. International Association for Plant Taxonomy, February 9, 1996, accessed June 28, 2008 (only shows that a publication was made, but not whether the taxon is currently recognized.).

Web links

Commons : Knightia excelsa - collection of images, videos and audio files

The Royal Society of New Zealand : Family Proteaceae . In: Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand , Volume 12th Edition, The Royal Society of New Zealand, Wellington 1989 (accessed June 28, 2008).

[1] BA Meylan, BG Butterfield: Scanning Electron Microscopy Graphs of New Zealand Woods 2. Knightia excelsa R.Br . In: New Zealand Journal of Botany . II, 1973, pp. 201-12.

[2] First published by wikisource .

[ing-3] Knightia. In: Index Nominum Genericorum. International Association for Plant Taxonomy, February 9, 1996, accessed June 28, 2008 (only shows that a publication was made, but not whether the taxon is currently recognized.).