''Parsonsia capsularis'' is a climbing 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 ...
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 ...
belonging to the dogbane family
Apocynaceae
Apocynaceae (from ''Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison Members of the ...
.
The common names for the plant are New Zealand jasmine or small flowered jasmine, and in
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 ...
it has several names including: akakaikiore, akakiore, kaikū, kaikūkū, kaiwhiria, tōtoroene and tōtorowene.
Despite its common name, the species is not a
"true jasmine" and not of the genus
Jasminum.
Taxonomy
''Parsonsia capsularis'' was first named and described as ''Periploca capsularis'' by
Georg Forster in 1786
[ and in 1809 was assigned by Robert Brown to his newly described genus, ''Parsonsia''.][
]
Etymology
The specific epithet, ''capsularis''. derives from the Latin, ''capsula'' (small box - capsule) and means bearing capsules, producing capsules, or capsular-fruited.[
]
See also
* Flora of New Zealand
References
External links
Plantillustrations.org ''Parsonsia capsularis''.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7140063
capsularis
Flora of New Zealand
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
Plants described in 1786