''Leptecophylla juniperina'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Ericaceae. The species is native to

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 ...

and the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n states of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and Victoria. The plant's fruit is edible, raw or cooked. Plants grow best in areas with moderate winters and cool moist summers. Leptecophylla juniperina Flower

Three subspecies are recognised as follows: *''Leptecophylla juniperina'' (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) C.M.Weiller subsp. ''juniperina'' (New Zealand and Tasmania) *''Leptecophylla juniperina'' subsp. ''oxycedrus'' (Labill.) C.M.Weiller (Tasmania and Victoria) * Leptecophylla juniperina subsp. parvifolia (R.Br.) C.M.Weiller (Tasmania) An example occurrence of ''L. juniperina'' is in the red and

silver beech ''Nothofagus menziesii'', commonly known as silver beech ( mi, tawhai, tahina), is a tree of the southern beech family endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly ...

forests admixed with rimu and miro podocarps on northern

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 ...

; associate understory species in this South Island forest include '' Blechnum discolor''.

Common names

Common names in New Zealand include prickly heath and prickly mingimingi. Maori names for this plant include ''hukihuki'', ''hukihukiraho'', ''inakapōriro'', ''inangapōriro'', ''kūkuku'', ''miki'', ''mikimiki'', ''mingi'', ''mingimingi'' ''ngohungohu'', ''pā tōtara'', ''taumingi'', ''tūmingi''. In Australia, the subspecies ''parvifolia'' (syn. ''Cyathodes parviflora'') is known as pink mountain berry.

References

Epacridoideae Ericales of Australia Flora of New Zealand Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of Tasmania Garden plants {{fruit-stub