Nestegis apetala is a small tree native to northern New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and to Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

. The common names in New Zealand are Coastal maire or Broad-leaved maire. On Norfolk Island, the common name is Ironwood. The species name apetala refers to the lack of petals on the flowers.

Distribution

In New Zealand C. apetala grows on the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 mainland on rocky headlands around Whangarei Heads and at the Bay of Islands

Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

. It is also found on northern offshore islands including the Hen and Chickens Islands, Great Barrier Island

Great Barrier Island

Great Barrier Island is a large island of New Zealand, situated to the north-east of central Auckland in the outer Hauraki Gulf. With an area of it is the fourth-largest island of New Zealand's main chain of islands, with its highest point, Mount Hobson, rising...

, Little Barrier Island, and the Poor Knights Islands

Poor Knights Islands

The Poor Knights Islands are a group of islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They are located to the northeast of Whangarei, and lie offshore half way between Bream Head and Cape Brett. Uninhabited since the 1820s, they are a nature reserve and...

. It tends to be rare on islands with rats. On Norfolk Island, it is common on Mt Pitt, and in forested areas generally, but is less common elsewhere.

Description

N. apetala is shrub or tree up to 6 m tall, with smooth, shiny dark green leaves 4.5 to 12 cm long and 1.5 to 4 cm wide. Juvenile leaves are larger, up to 14 cm long by 8.5 cm wide. The leaves are often wavy, and are borne on leaf stems about 10 mm long. The flowers of N. apetala arise in racemes of up to 21 flowers growing from the leaf axils or directly from the branchlets. The individual flowers are each about 2.5 mm in diameter, and lack petals. The fruit is a drupe 9 mm long, red or yellow, less commonly purple when ripe. The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network lists the plant as 'Not Threatened'

Threats

The fruit and seeds of Nestegis apetala are palatable to rats. Research in New Zealand has shown that the eating of the seeds by kiore (Pacific rats) substantially reduces the population of the tree. Kiore were introduced by Māori sometime in the last 1,000 years and became widespread on the three main islands, and reached many of the offshore islands. At present, Coastal maire is quite a rare tree on the mainland, but this research indicates that it is probable that before the introduction of kiore, it would have been a much more common component of the coastal forests of the northern North Island. Seedlings or saplings of N. apetala are uncommon or rare on off-shore islands such as Hen Island and Lady Alice Island where kiore are present, and abundant on islands such as Tawhiti-rahi and Aorangi in the Poor Knights group where they are absent. Three years after the eradication of kiore from Cuvier Island, seedlings of N. apetala became common near mature trees. However, the scarcity of fruiting trees on modified islands slows seed dispersal and population recovery. (Campbell et al., 1999:282-4).

Cultivation and uses

N. apetala is an attractive small tree noted for its hard timber. The berries are eaten by birds. In New Zealand it is available from specialist nurseries.