''Pisonia brunoniana'' is a species of

flowering A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the family

Nyctaginaceae Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a unique fruit t ...

that 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 ...

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The common names in New Zealand are parapara or birdcatcher tree.

Description

''Pisonia brunoniana'' is a small tree, spreading to or more tall. The wood is soft and the branches are brittle. The large leaves are opposite or ternate,

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, and glossy, entire (simple with smooth margins), and obtuse to rounded at apex. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

paniculate A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

, many-flowered, and the flowers are unisexual. The very sticky fruits, in which small birds are often trapped, are narrowly ellipsoidal, and long, having five ribs. In the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

, the sticky seeds of a related species, ''

Pisonia grandis ''Pisonia grandis'', the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the ''Bougainvillea'' family, Nyctaginaceae. Description The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that matur ...

'', regularly causes seabird deaths, and research suggests that the seeds evolved to be transferred on the plumage of seabirds to distant islands, enabling the long-distance dispersal of the species. The situation may be similar with ''P. brunoniana''.

Distribution in New Zealand

In New Zealand, ''Pisonia brunoniana'' grows in coastal forest on

Raoul Island Raoul Island (''Sunday Island'') is the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, south south-west of 'Ata Island of Tonga and north north-east of New Zealand's North Island. It has been the source of vigorous volcanic activity ...

in the Kermadec group, on the

Three Kings Islands 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

, and 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 ...

in scattered locations from

Whangape Harbour Whangape Harbour ( mi, Whangapē) is a harbour on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand. There is a settlement called Whangape on the northern side of the harbour. Another, called Pawarenga, is located on the southern side. Kaitaia is 42 ...

Mangawhai Mangawhai is a locality in Northland, New Zealand around the Mangawhai Harbour. The township of Mangawhai is at the south west extent of the harbour, and the township of Mangawhai Heads is 5 km north east. Kaiwaka is 13 km south west, ...

. Historically, it grew near

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, on the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

and at

East Cape East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand. It is located at the northern end of the Gisborne District of New Zealand's North Island. It can also refer to the broader Gisborne cape. East Cape was originally named "C ...

. It is now mainly found on offshore islands, especially rodent-free islands, where it often forms an important understorey component of mixed-broadleaf forest. The plant is almost extinct in the North Island, partly because the large leaves of ''P. brunoniana'' are eagerly eaten by browsing animals such as

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s and feral

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. The plant is reasonably common in cultivation as a decorative tree in New Zealand, especially in the northern North Island. Two variegated cultivars are sold as ''P. brunoniana'' in New Zealand nurseries, although one of these, which has leaves extensively marbled with white, may in fact be '' P. umbellifera'', a similar species which occurs throughout the tropical

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

In Hawaii

, where it is known as ''pāpala kēpau'', ''P. brunoniana'' is most common in dry to mesic habitats. Although abundant in certain locations, such as Kīpuka Puaulu, it has a relatively restricted distribution compared to the related species '' P. sandwicensis'' and ''P. umbellifera''. The sticky fruits were employed by the Hawaiian ''kia manu'' (bird catchers) to trap birds in order to collect feathers for capes and other objects.

Notes

References

* * * Metcalf, Laurie, 2002. ''A Photographic Guide to Trees of New Zealand''. Auckland: New Holland. * Salmon, J.T., 1986. ''The Native Trees of New Zealand''. Wellington: Heinneman Reed. * ''Flora of Australia'' Onlin
''Pisonia brunoniana''
Retrieved 3 May 2007. * ''Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database'', Bishop Museum. URL
''Papala kepau''
Retrieved 3 May 2007. * ''New Zealand Plant Conservation Network'', URL
''Pisonia brunoniana''
Retrieved 3 October 2010. * ''Plants of Hawaii'', UR

Retrieved 3 May 2007. {{Taxonbar, from=Q7198396 brunoniana Trees of New Zealand Flora of Lord Howe Island Flora of Norfolk Island Trees of Hawaii Trees of Australia Caryophyllales of Australia Flora without expected TNC conservation status