''Lophomyrtus bullata'', also known by its

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 of ramarama, is a species of evergreen myrtle shrub in the genus ''

Lophomyrtus ''Lophomyrtus'' is a genus of the myrtle family described as a genus in 1941. The entire genus is endemic to New Zealand. It consists of evergreen shrubs or trees, noted for their colorful leaves, which are purple, chocolate, red or bronze-gree ...

'', family

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

. It is endemic 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 ...

. ''Lophomyrtus bullata'' grows to a height of 8 metres, producing many branches closely packed together. The leaves are oval shaped, thick, shiny and bubbled, varying in colour from dark green to yellow green. They can also appear spotted with red, maroon, or blackish marks. Ramarama flowers between November and March, and subsequently fruits from January through to June. As of 2020, ramarama has become severely threatened by myrtle rust ('' Austropuccinia psidii''), a

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

that arrived in New Zealand in 2017.

References

Endemic flora of New Zealand Myrtaceae Taxa named by Max Burret {{Myrtaceae-stub