Research on Alseuosmia shrubs

Alseuosmia is a small genus of shrubs found only in New Zealand. A notable feature of the genus is that some of the species appear to mimic unrelated plants.

There is extremely high morphological variation in Alseuosmia, particularly within A. banksii, which has made it difficult to determine the boundaries among the species. We are investigating the taxonomy of Alseuosmia using both genomic and morphological data.  The revised taxonomy will then be used to assess the conservation status of each species.

Our research on this genus is funded by the Linnean Society of London’s Systematic Research Fund and Te Papa’s Acquisition Fund.

Researchers: Lara Shepherd, Leon Perrie, Peter de Lange (Unitec) and Andrew Townsend (Department of Conservation).

Publication
Shepherd LD, de Lange PJ, Townsend A, Perrie LR (2020) A biological and ecological review of the endemic New Zealand genus Alseuosmia (toropapa; Alseuosmiaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany 58: 2-18.