Coprosma
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Coprosma' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Family
- Rubiaceae
A genus of about ninety species found mainly in the lands bordering the S.W. Pacific from New Zealand (with about forty-five species) to Borneo; it is also represented in many of the smaller islands of the Pacific. They are shrubs, sometimes dwarf, more rarely trees, with evergreen, opposite leaves. The small, rather inconspicuous flowers have the petals united into a tube, with the stamens inserted on the corolla, and are prevailingly unisexual, the male and female flowers being borne on separate plants (dioecious). This characteristic limits their usefulness in gardens, since it is for the brightly coloured, fleshy fruits that they are grown. There is, however, much variability in this respect even within a single species: flowers of each sex may be found on one plant and even hermaphrodite flowers have been observed.
For the taxonomist, the New Zealand coprosmas are a very confusing group, owing to the readiness with which they hybridise in the wild and the various forms one and the same species may assume in response to the conditions of its habitat.
From the Supplement (Vol.V)
A large number of species, cultivars and hybrids of Coprosma are grown by Graham Hutchins at the County Park Nursery, Hornchurch, Essex, some collected by himself in the wild, the others received from New Zealand gardeners and botanists.