About

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 Aoraki / Mount Cook and Westland National Parks.

D.

Where it grows

Dracophyllum fiordense is one of several species that the flightless bird kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), feeds on. One 1977 thesis found "kākāpō signs", or chew marks, caused by the lower mandible on the lateral buds (shoots) of D. fiordense. The technique they employ – specifically on D. fiordense – is an incision into the leaf buds with their beaks followed by eating the leaf bases through the incision. In the Fiordland region, which was where the kākāpō's last wild population was located (before subsequent conservation efforts), D. fiordense, along with other Fiordland Dracophyllum species such as D. menziesii, D. longifolium, and D. uniflorum, is an important source of food for the parrot.

Other Dracophyllum plants

Dracophyllum acerosum · Tarahinau · Dracophyllum cockayneanum · Dracophyllum densum · Grass Tree · Dracophyllum filifolium · Fitzgerald Tree · Dracophyllum kirkii · Needle Leaved Neinei · Gumland Grass Tree · Inaka · Dracophyllum macranthum