It’s quiet here today as I realized the journal article I brought from home is actually largely irrelevant, loaded with theoretical mathmatics and ergo, ripe for the recycling bin. I’m also flat out preparing for my trip to Coastal NSW on the 20th (flying out at 6.40am ^^..^^) so it’s nice to take a break from arranging permits and getting identification books sorted out.
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So, this week’s plant of the week is another member of the pea family (Fabaceae), one of the few native peas found in New Zealand, apart from the kowhai (Sophora spp.) and native brooms (Carmichaelia spp.).
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So, this week’s plant of the week is another member of the pea family (Fabaceae), one of the few native peas found in New Zealand, apart from the kowhai (Sophora spp.) and native brooms (Carmichaelia spp.).
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Kowhai-ngutu-kaka – Clianthus puniceus – Kakabeak
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This plant is really striking, with beautiful red flowers that apparently look something like the beak of the native Kaka (Nestor meridionalis), hence the common name.
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Kakabeak flowers look remarkably similar to the other pea that I have profiled Sturt’s Desert Pea, that the latter was originally classified in the Clianthus genus before being reassigned to Swainsona. Kakabeak is now the only remaining species within the Clianthus genus.
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Despite being a popular garden cultivar, Kakabeak is actually a threatened native species. It occurs naturally in the East Cape/Hawkes Bay area, where only about 200 wild individuals survive. Most of the garden varieties that people have are clones or cultivars, which means that the genetic diversity of the species is actually far smaller than what would be expected from the number of individuals alive. In the wild, Kakabeak is threatened by goat, deer, pig and possum browsing.
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what an interesting plant.
Just wanted to let your poor math-heavy paper languishing in the recycle bin that there are botanists that love math and love plants and love even more when they get together and speculate.
That really is an incredible plant. Hope there are some serious conservation efforts going on!
I grow these in abundance. The maori name; kowhai (you’ll know the kowhai tree) ngutu (lips or beak) kaka (the parrot) hence kaka beak. Easy to grow from cuttings, easy to grow from seed.
Any idea why my Clianthus puniceus leaves are all falling off at the end of December? It is not snails.