Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Gentianales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Rubiaceae
Genus
Nertera Banks & Sol. ex Gaertn.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Nertera dichondrifolia (A.Cunn.) Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 112. t. 28 A (1852)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Geophila dichondrifolia A.Cunn., Ann. Nat. Hist. 2: 208 (1839)
  • ≡ Coprosma dichondrifolia (A.Cunn.) Heads, Candollea 51: 389 (1996)
  • = Nertera gracilis Raoul, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. sér. 3, 2: 121 (1844)
 Description

Matted to open ± hairy herb forming patches up to 4 dm. diam. or more; stems much to sparingly branched; branches and branchlets ± clad in subappressed to patent hairs, often densely so in axils. Lvs on ± pilose petioles 5–10–(12) mm. long; stipules triangular, acute to sub-acute, margins and apex us. thickened, ± hairy without, glab. within. Lamina submembr., broad-ovate to broadly ovate-oblong, occ. suborbicular, (4)–6–12 × (4)–6–10–(13) mm., densely to sparsely hairy above and below, sts almost glab.; apex acute to obtuse, sts apiculate; sub-cordate or occ. rounded at base; margins thickened, sts crenulate. Fls very small, sessile, axillary and terminal. Calyx obscurely to distinctly toothed. Corolla funnelform, c.2.5–3*5 mm. long; lobes 4, narrow-triangular, subacute, up to c.1/2 length tube. Anthers and styles slightly exserted. Drupe globose, red to dark orange, c. 4 mm. diam., ± setose when young.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Oct.–Feb.; Fruiting: Dec.–May.

 Bibliography
Cunningham, A. 1839: Florae insularum Novae Zelandiae precursor; or a specimen of the botany of the islands of New Zealand. Annals of Natural History 2: 205–214.
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]
Heads, M.J. 1996: Biogeography, taxonomy and evolution in the Pacific genus Coprosma (Rubiaceae). Candollea 51: 381–405.
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): 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 I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Raoul, E. 1844: Choix de plantes de la Nouvelle-Zélande. Recueillies et décrites par M.E. Raoul. Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique sér. 3, 2: 113–123.