Pseudowintera traversii

Pseudowintera traversii, sometimes called Travers horopito,^[4] is a species of woody shrub in the family Winteraceae. The specific epithet traversii is in honor of naturalist Henry H. Travers (1844–1928), son of William Thomas Locke Travers.^[5][6]

Pseudowintera traversii
Pseudowintera traversii
illustration of Pseudowintera traversii
Conservation status
Naturally Uncommon (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Magnoliids
Order:	Canellales
Family:	Winteraceae
Genus:	Pseudowintera
Species:	P. traversii
Binomial name
Pseudowintera traversii (Buchanan) Dandy 1933
Synonyms[2]
Drimys traversii T. Kirk 1898 Hymenanthera traversii Buchanan (1882 [1883]) Wintera monogyna Tiegh. 1900[3] Wintera traversii (Buchanan) Cockayne

Description

Pseudowintera traversii is a densely branched shrub growing up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high.^[4] It has coriaceous leaves that are 2–2.5 centimetres (0.79–0.98 in) long and ovate^[4] or obovate.^[7] The leaves are green-blue underneath and matte green on top,^[4] close-set and on stout petioles.^[7] The leaves may have reddish margins,^[8] but lack the picturesque blotches of P. colorata.^[9] However they are described as tasting peppery and pungent.^[10] The bark is reddish-brown and rough.^[7] The green or yellow flowers appear in January,^[10] growing singly or as doubles, or rarely triples,^[7] with 5–7 petals and 4–9 stamens.^[8] The fruit appears in February^[10] as a fleshy berry,^[4] that is purplish-black^[8][9] and 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) in diameter, containing 3–6 seeds.^[7]

Like all species in the family Winteraceae, P. traversii lacks vessels in its xylem.^[11]

• 
  Growth habit
• 
  Underside of leaves
• 
  A specimen from the Auckland War Memorial Museum

Genomic information

Ploidy	haploid[12]
Number of chromosomes	43[12]

Habitat

Like the other species of horopito in Pseudowintera, it is endemic to New Zealand.^[4] It is the rarest of the species, and the national government there lists it as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon."^[1] Naturally, it only is found growing in montane shrubland and woodland edges in the South Island in northwest Nelson between Westport and Collingwood.^[7] It grows from 600–1,300 metres (2,000–4,300 ft) in elevation.^[8]

Ecology

Pseudowintera traversii shares a pollinator (possibly a thrip) with P. colorata, as natural hybrids have been found where their ranges overlap.^[8] Females of the species Thrips obscuratus (New Zealand flower thrips) have been collected on P. traversii.^[13]