Class
Order
Family
Genus
Classification
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Tecomanthe speciosa W.R.B.Oliv., Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 3: 233 (1948)
Description
Glab. woody liane up to ± 10 m. tall. Lvs coriac., dark green above, paler below; imparipinnately 3–5-foliolate, on petioles up to ± 6 cm. × 4 mm., enlarged at base; scar oval to suborbicular; lateral lflts on petiolules ± 5 mm. long; lamina ± 5–9–(13) × 3–7–(8) cm., broad-elliptic to broad-obovate, entire, obliquely cuneately narrowed to base, apiculate to retuse; terminal lflt on petiolule to 2 cm. long; lamina 8–12–(15) × 5–9 cm., broad-elliptic to broad-obovate, cuneately narrowed to base, retuse to apiculate. Infl. with up to 30 fls in corymbose compound cyme on stout peduncle ± 2–3 cm. long; pedicels stout, c. 1 cm. long, opp., us. trichotomously branched. Calyx green, velvety without, to c. 2.5 × 1 cm., tubular, (3)–4–(5)-lobed, splitting to base as fl. matures. Corolla delicately creamy white, with very pale green flush, tomentose without; tube cylindric, ± 3 × 1·5 cm., limb 2-lipped; lower lip entire, 2 × 1 cm., upper lip 4-lobed, ± 4 × 5 cm., each lobe tapering to subacute recurved apex. Stamens us. 4, to c. 5–6 cm. long, 2 outer > 2 inner; filaments adnate to tube for c. 1 cm., at point of separation invested by slender hairs. Anthers orange, c. 1 cm. long, cells diverging; staminode filiform, ± hairy, us. short, occ. long, sts represented by fully developed stamen. Style slender, extending to mid-anther position with a sharp double flexure in its upper third; stigma truncately 2-lobed. Ovary bilocular, the 2 placentae in each loculus occupying the thickened outer parts of the septum. Fr. a woody subcylindric capsule to 19 × 3·5 cm., splitting loculicidally from the base into two boat-shaped valves which separate from the septum. Seeds very many, densely packed, flattened, c. 1 × 2.5 cm. including broad membr. wing.
[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]
Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
Phenology
Flowering: May–Jul.–(Aug.); Fruiting: Mar.
Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Nationally Critical]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Nationally Critical]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Nationally Critical]
Oliver, W.R.B. 1948: The Flora of the Three Kings Islands. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 3: 211–238.
