Knightia excelsa

Knightia excelsa
A young Rewarewa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Tribe:	Knightieae
Genus:	Knightia
Species:	K. excelsa
Binomial name
Knightia excelsa R. Br. (1810)
Synonyms
Rymandra excelsa Salisb. Sources: UniProt,[1] IPNI[2]

Knightia excelsa, Rewarewa in Māori, or New Zealand honeysuckle, is an evergreen tree endemic to the low elevation and valley forests of New Zealand's North Island and Marlborough Sounds (41° S)^[3] and the type species for the genus Knightia.^[4]

Rewarewa grows to 30 m tall, with a slender crown. The leaves are alternate, leathery, narrow oblong, 10 - 15 cm long and 2.5 - 3.5 cm wide, and without stipules. The flowers are 2 - 3.5 cm long, bright red, and borne in racemes 10 cm long.

It was called "New Zealand honeysuckle" by early European settlers but the name has fallen into disuse in preference for the Māori name. Rewarewa flowers are a great source for honey production.

Rewarewa in flower

References

1. ^ UniProt. "Species Knightia excelsa" (HTML). http://beta.uniprot.org/taxonomy/35944. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
2. ^ International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI). "Plant Name Search Results" (HTML). International Plant Names Index. http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=704692-1. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
3. ^ Meylan, BA; BG Butterfield (1973). "Scanning Electron Micrographs of New Zealand Woods 2. Knightia excelsa R.Br". New Zealand Journal of Botany II: 201–12. 
4. ^ "Knightia" (HTML). Index Nominum Genericorum. International Association for Plant Taxonomy. 1996-02-09. http://botany.si.edu/ing/INGsearch.cfm?searchword=Knightia. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 

External links

Media related to Knightia excelsa at Wikimedia Commons Works related to On the Proteaceae of Jussieu at Wikisource

• The Royal Society of New Zealand (1989). "Family Proteaceae". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Volume 12 ed.). Wellington: The Royal Society of New Zealand. http://books.google.com/books?id=n7Y4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88. Retrieved 2008-06-28.