Coprosma quadrifida
Prickly Currant Bush
Prickly Currant Bush
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Asterids > Lamiids > Gentianales > Rubiaceae > Coprosma quadrifida
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Common name: Prickly Currant Bush
Conservation status: Least concern
Etymology:
Flowers:
Flowering occurs from August to January, with flowers of a greenish coloration
The flowers are sub-sessile, and unisexual, with male and female flowers occurring on separate plants
Flowers are often solitary and are terminal on short branchlets
Male flowers have a cup-shaped calyx and a funnel-shaped corolla
Female flowers have a deeply toothed calyx and a tubular corolla
Fruit:
Fruiting occurs in late summer or early autumn, typically January to March, and results in a drupe style fruit
The fruit is small and globular or egg shaped
It is glossy and ranges in colouration from orange to dark red
The fruit is crowned by the remanent calyx of the flower
The fruit is edible and can be used in cooking, typically in salads or puddings
Seed germination can take over six months,
Domestically used seed undergoing stratification to reduce germination to 2–4 weeks.
Leaves:
eaves are of a dull green colouration and lanceolate, or broad ovate, shaped
They are small, typically 5-15mm long and 2-5mm wide
The leaves are also without hairs and display clear reticulate venation underneath
Leaf margins are typically flat or slightly recurved
Stem & branches:
Can grow to between 2-5m tall
Branches remain slender, often tapering to a spine at the point
Like other related species, such as Coprosma nitida, C. quadrifida also displays pubescent branchlets that are spine shaped
Roots:
Habit:
An erect open to dense shrub
Habitat:
Typically found at damp sites within woodlands, Eucalyptus forests or cool-temperate rainforests
It prefers sheltered slopes or sites near water sources
They are able to withstand frost and are salt tolerant
Distribution:
Individuals of this species have been found in all eastern states of Australia
It is more common in the south-eastern states (Tasmania, Victoria and in southern NSW), due to the more temperate climate
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
Coprosma quadrifida is a dioecious shrub of the family Rubiaceae native to southeastern Australia
First described as Canthium quadrifidum by Labillardiere, it was given its current name by B. L. Robinson in 1910.
Historical Description
The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Coprosma Billardieri common names included "Native Currant" [sic] and that Indigenous Australians of Coranderrk Station, Victoria, called it "Morr" and that "This plant bears a small round drupe, about the size of a small pea. Mr. Backhouse states that (over half a century ago) when British fruits were scarce, it was made into puddings by some of the settlers of Tasmania, but the size and number of the seeds were objectionable."
Sources of information: