Dracophyllum fiordense

rdf:langString Dracophyllum fiordense

rdf:langString Fiordland grass tree

rdf:langString Dracophyllum

rdf:langString Mountainside covered with green plants with D. fiordense in the centre.

rdf:langString Dracophyllum fiordense map.svg

rdf:langString fiordense

rdf:langString D

rdf:langString NZTCS

rdf:langString Dracophyllum fiordense, commonly known as the Fiordland grass tree, is a species of tree or shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It reaches a height of 1.5–5.0 metres (5–16 feet) and has tufts of long green leaves at the ends of its branches. Each leaf has a distinctive curled spiral tip. D. fiordense has a pyramid-shaped inflorescence (flower spike) hidden under each clump of leaves, with between 113 and 120 pink flowers on each spike, and later reddish-brown dry fruit; both are around just 2 by 2 mm. It inhabits shrubland, lowland and subalpine forests, and tussock grassland of mountain slopes, gullies, and ridges. Its range covers two main areas: one in Fiordland National Park, and one in the Mount Cook and Westland National Parks. D. fiordense was first described by the New Zealand naturalist Walter Oliver in 1928 and placed by him in the subgenus Dracophyllum. A cladistic analysis using genetic sequencing was published in 2010, which revealed that D. fiordense is closely related to D. menziesii as Oliver had hypothesised. Its conservation status was assessed in 2017 as "Declining". The kākāpō, a flightless bird, feeds on the bases of the leaves by making careful incisions in new shoots. D. fiordense is likely pollinated by insects and its seeds are later dispersed by the wind.

rdf:langString Map of New Zealand, showing D. fiordense's two main population groups: One in the Fiordland region, and the other in the Westland region.