Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ericales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Gaultheria Kalm ex L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Gaultheria antipoda G.Forst., Fl. Ins. Austr. 34 (1786)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Brossaea antipoda (G.Forst.) Kuntze (1839)
  • = Gaultheria erecta Banks & Sol. MSS. et Ic. nom. inval.
  • = Gaultheria fluviatilis A.Cunn., Ann. Nat. Hist. 1 (1838)
  • ≡ Gaultheria antipoda var. fluviatilis (A.Cunn.) Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part II, 161 (1854)
  • = Gaultheria epiphyta Colenso, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 22: 474 (1889 [1890])
  • = Gaultheria antipoda var. erecta Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl., ed. 2, 689 (1925)
Vernacular Name(s):
Bush snowberry; Fool's beech; Koropuka; Pāpapa; Tahupāpapa; Takapo; Taupuku; Tauwiniwini; Tāwiniwini
 Description

Erect or rather spreading shrub, usually 0.5–2 m high; branchlets densely to rather sparsely setose, often puberulent also. Lvs alternate; petioles slender, to c. 2 mm long. Lamina (5)–7–10–(20) × (3)–6–10–(20) mm, broadly elliptic-oblong or elliptic to orbicular, coriaceous, glabrous or nearly so; margins ± undulate, crenulate-denticulate to serrate; base cuneate to rounded; apex rounded, mucronulate, sometimes ± acute. Fls solitary, axillary, but uppermost lvs sometimes so reduced that fls appear racemosely arranged; pedicels glabrate to densely hairy; bracteoles 0.7–1.5 mm long, broadly ovate. Calyx lobes 1.5–2.5 mm long, ovate-triangular, subacute to acute. Corolla ± urceolate; tube 1.5–2.5 mm long; lobes triangular. Fr. 4–6 mm diam.; calyx ± fleshy, white to red or purplish.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Nov.–Feb.

 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1925: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Colenso, W. 1890: A description of some newly-discovered Phænogamic plants, being a further contribution towards the making-known the botany of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 22: 459–493.
Connor, H.E. 1977: The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cunningham, A. 1838: Florae insularum Novae Zelandiae precursor; or a specimen of the botany of the islands of New Zealand. Annals of Natural History 1: 376–381.
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. [Not Threatened]
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. [Not Threatened]
Forster, J.G.A. 1786: Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus. Dietrich, Göttingen.
Franklin, D.A. 1962: The Ericaceae in New Zealand (Gaultheria and Pernettya). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Botany 1: 155–173.
Hooker, J.D. 1854–1855: The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part II. Flowerless plants. Lovell Reeve, London.