Griselinia

Plant Characteristics

Habit		shrub

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Griselinia >

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? Griselinia
Griselinia littoralis foliage and flowers
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Apiales Family: Griseliniaceae Genus: Griselinia G.Forst.
Species
Griselinia carlomunozii Griselinia jodinifolia Griselinia littoralis Griselinia lucida Griselinia racemosa Griselinia ruscifolia Griselinia scandens

Griselinia (after Franc Griselini, Venetian botanist, middle of eighteenth century). Including Decostea. Cornaceae. Woody plants with large, glossy, laurel- like foliage, rarely cultivated in the South, and nearly hardy at Washington.

Trees, shrubs or climbers from New Zeal., Chile and Brazil, with lvs. alternate, often unequal - sided, thick and leathery: fls. minute; in glabrous or pubescent racemes or panicles; calyx very small, 5-toothed, the petals 5, imbricated; stamens 5, with subulate filaments: fr. baccate, 1- or rarely 2-celled.—Six or seven species. Related to Garrya, from which it differs in the alternate lvs. Little cult, in Amer. Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrubs and trees, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand and South America. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora.

It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae; in the past it was often placed in the Cornaceae (dogwood family, order Cornales), but differs from that in many features; recent genetic evidence from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the Apiales.

The leaves are evergreen, smooth and glossy above, often paler below. The flowers are very small, with five sepals and stamens and a single stigma, but no petals. The fruit is a small berry.

New Zealand species

The two New Zealand species are large shrubs or trees, from 4-20 m tall. Both trees are or can be epiphytic or hemiphytic. Though sometimes occurring on rocky outcrops or coastal cliffs G.lucida is almost exclusively so. The young tree often colonizes amongst other epiphytes like Collospermum and Astelia high in the forest canopy, before growing aerial roots down the trunk of its host. Upon contact with the ground the roots can become large - up to 250mm thick, and are easily identified for their heavy length wise corrugations. G.lucida seldom becomes a freestanding tree if having begun life epiphytically, and can often be seen to have collapsed where the host has died. Epiphytic growth in G.littoralis is less common but does occur in wetter climates.

The vernacular names are of Māori origin.

• G. littoralis - Kapuka; leaves 6-14 cm long.
• G. lucida - Akapuka; differs from G. littoralis in larger leaves, to 12-18 cm long.

South American species

The five South American species are smaller shrubs, 1-5 m tall. All are known as Yelmo.

• G. carlomunozii - coastal northern Chile (Antofagasta)
• G. jodinifolia - Chile
• G. racemosa - southern Chile (Los Lagos, Aisén) and adjacent Argentina (western Chubut)
• G. ruscifolia - Argentina, Chile, southeast Brazil
• G. scandens - central and southern Chile

External links

• Pictures of Griselinia jodinifolia and Griselinia racemosa from Chilebosque.