Knightia excelsa
Knightia excelsa | ||||||||||||
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Knightia excelsa |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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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
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
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
- 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).