''Discaria toumatou'', commonly called matagouri, tūmatakuru or wild Irishman, is a tangle-branched thorny plant

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Matagouri is a tangle-branched, extremely thorny,

divaricating Divaricate means branching, or having separation or a degree of separation. The angle between branches is wide. In botany In botany, the term is often used to describe the branching pattern of plants. Plants are said to be divaricating when the ...

shrub or small tree up to five metres tall. It has small leathery leaves close to the thorns, which are only abundant in spring or the shade. The flowers are tiny and white with no petals. It is the only New Zealand native plant that has thorns. It is most common in

tussock grass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

land, stony areas and river beds. It is common in the eastern

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, and found in a few coastal localities in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

south from the mouth of the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

. As with other ''Discaria'' species it fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere with the help of

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

bacteria of the genus ''

Frankia ''Frankia'' is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in symbiosis with actinorhizal plants, similar to the ''Rhizobium'' bacteria found in the root nodules of legumes in the family Fabaceae. ''Frankia'' also initiate the forming of root ...

'' in its roots. It often grows in association with mingimingi (''

Coprosma propinqua ''Coprosma propinqua'' is a New Zealand plant of the genus ''Coprosma'' in the family Rubiaceae. Its Māori name (in common New Zealand usage) is ''mingimingi'', a name which is also applied to closely related species such as '' C. dumosa'', '' ...

''), porcupine shrub (''

Melicytus alpinus ''Melicytus alpinus'', the mahoe porcupine shrub, is a small shrub of the family Violaceae endemic to New Zealand. Description ''Melicytus alpinus'' get their common name, porcupine shrub, from the long, almost leafless, spindly branches which ...

'', an alpine mahoe), native brooms (''

Carmichaelia ''Carmichaelia'' (New Zealand brooms) is a genus of 24 plant species belonging to Fabaceae, the legume family. All but one species are native to New Zealand; the exception, '' Carmichaelia exsul'', is native to Lord Howe Island and presumably dis ...

'' species) and the introduced sweet briar (''

Rosa rubiginosa ''Rosa rubiginosa'' (sweet briar, sweetbriar rose, sweet brier or eglantine; synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''R. eglanteria'') is a species of rose native to Europe and western Asia. Description It is a dense deciduous shrub 2–3 meters high and acr ...

''), the last a weed. As a native plant matagouri has complete protection on public conservation land and a degree of protection on private land under the

Resource Management Act 1991 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...

. In a notable case a 400 ha area of matagouri forest, including trees that may have been 150 years old, was illegally sprayed at the head of

Lake Sumner Lake Sumner, known as ''Hoka Kura'' in Māori, is a lake situated 100 km northwest of Christchurch in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. The lake is located in the Lake Sumner Forest Park; the Hurunui River and several other lakes (Loch K ...

in 2001.

Etymology

The name matagouri is how speakers of English heard the South Island pronunciation of the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name "matakoura".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5281421 Flora of the North Island Flora of the South Island Trees of New Zealand toumatou