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Griselinia

 
Griselinia

 
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Griselinia
 
 
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Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s and tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora
Antarctic flora

The Antarctic flora is a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana, and is now found on several separate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including southern South America, southernmost Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania, and New Caledonia....
.

It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae; in the past it was often placed in the Cornaceae
Cornaceae

The Dogwood family is a widespread family, mostly in the north temperate zone, in the order Cornales. The family mostly comprises woody shrubs and trees, in about fifteen genera, although which genera properly belong to this family is controversial....
 (dogwood family, order Cornales
Cornales

Cornales is an order of flowering plants, basal among the asterids, which are part of the core eudicots. Under the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, it includes the following families:...
), but differs from that in many features; recent genetic evidence from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
 has shown that it is correctly placed in the Apiales
Apiales

The Apiales are an order of flowering plants. The families given at right are typical of newer classifications, though there is some slight variation, and in particular the Torriceliaceae may be divided....
.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
, smooth and glossy above, often paler below.






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Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s and tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora
Antarctic flora

The Antarctic flora is a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana, and is now found on several separate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including southern South America, southernmost Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania, and New Caledonia....
.

It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae; in the past it was often placed in the Cornaceae
Cornaceae

The Dogwood family is a widespread family, mostly in the north temperate zone, in the order Cornales. The family mostly comprises woody shrubs and trees, in about fifteen genera, although which genera properly belong to this family is controversial....
 (dogwood family, order Cornales
Cornales

Cornales is an order of flowering plants, basal among the asterids, which are part of the core eudicots. Under the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, it includes the following families:...
), but differs from that in many features; recent genetic evidence from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
 has shown that it is correctly placed in the Apiales
Apiales

The Apiales are an order of flowering plants. The families given at right are typical of newer classifications, though there is some slight variation, and in particular the Torriceliaceae may be divided....
.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
, smooth and glossy above, often paler below. The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are very small, with five sepals and stamens and a single stigma. Petals 2-3 mm long. However, the female flower of G.lucida has no petals. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a small purple oval berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
5-10 mm long.

New Zealand species The two New Zealand species are large shrubs or trees, from 4-20 m tall. Both trees are or can be epiphytic or hemiphytic. Though sometimes occurring on rocky outcrops or coastal cliffs G.lucida is almost exclusively so. The young tree often colonizes amongst other epiphytes like Collospermum and Astelia high in the forest canopy, before growing aerial roots down the trunk of its host. Upon contact with the ground the roots can become large - up to 250 mm thick, and are easily identified for their heavy length wise corrugations. G.lucida seldom becomes a freestanding tree if having begun life epiphytically, and can often be seen to have collapsed where the host has died. Epiphytic growth in G.littoralis is less common but does occur in wetter climates.

The vernacular names are of Maori
Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
 origin.
  • G. littoralis - Kapuka; leaves 6-14 cm long.
  • G. lucida - Akapuka; differs from G. littoralis in larger leaves, to 12-18 cm long.


South American species The five South American species are smaller shrubs, 1-5 m tall. All are known as Yelmo.
  • G. carlomunozii - coastal northern Chile
    Chile

    Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
     (Antofagasta
    Antofagasta Region

    The II Antofagasta Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is the port city of Antofagasta. It comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, El Loa and Tocopilla, It is bordered to the north by Tarapac? Region and by Atacama Region to the south....
    )
  • G. jodinifolia - Chile
  • G. racemosa - southern Chile (Los Lagos
    Los Lagos Region

    The X Los Lagos Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.The "Los Lagos Region" contains the country's second largest island, Chilo? Island, and the second largest lake, Lake Llanquihue....
    , Aisén) and adjacent Argentina
    Argentina

    Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
     (western Chubut
    Chubut Province

    Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd Circle of latitude South and 46th Parallel South , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean....
    )
  • G. ruscifolia - Argentina, Chile, southeast Brazil
    Brazil

    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
  • G. scandens - central and southern Chile


External links

  • Pictures of and from Chilebosque.