Pisonia brunoniana
| Pisonia brunoniana | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Nyctaginaceae |
| Genus: | Pisonia |
| Species: | P. brunoniana |
| Binomial name | |
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Pisonia brunoniana Endl. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pisonia sinclairii Hook.f. |
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Pisonia sinclairii Hook.f.
Heimerliodendron brunonianum (Endl.) Skottsb.
Pisonia brunoniana is a species of flowering tree in the Nyctaginaceae family that is native to New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and Hawaiʻi. The common names in New Zealand are parapara or birdcatcher tree.
Pisonia brunoniana is a small, spreading tree to 6 metres (20 ft) or more tall. The wood is soft and the branches are brittle. The large leaves are opposite or ternate, glabrous, and glossy, entire (simple with smooth margins), and obtuse to rounded at apex. The inflorescence is , many-flowered, and the flowers are unisexual. The very sticky fruits, in which small birds are often trapped, are narrowly ellipsoidal, and 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) long, having five ribs.
In New Zealand, Pisonia brunoniana grows in coastal forest on Raoul Island in the Kermadec group, on the Three Kings Islands, and in the North Island in scattered locations from Whangape Harbour to Mangawhai. Historically, it grew near Auckland, on the Coromandel Peninsula and at East Cape. 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, goats and feral cattle. However the main threat to accessible populations is the cutting down of trees by people trying to prevent small songbirds from becoming trapped by the sticky seeds.
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Wikipedia