NZ's two poroporo
Here's a photo of the two poroporo species side-by-side at Hinewai Reserve near Akaroa. Solanum laciniatum is on the left and Solanum aviculare is on the right. Note how the petals of Solanum laciniatum are larger with a frilled margin, creating an indent at the tip of each petal , while the petals of Solanum aviculare are smaller and pointed with no frilly margin.
(More details about this observation.)
Comments
Thanks for the facts on poroporo -- I had been too hasty in assigning an ID, sorry.
No worries. As long as you upload photos with flowers (or the inside of fruit), we can figure out which one it is. Peter de Lange started the "What's up with our poroporo?" project because he's noted that Solanum aviculare appears to be getting less common and replaced by Solanum laciniatum throughout parts of NZ. There's likely an interesting story to tell here but we'll need more observations to reveal it.
These stories certainly enrich our activities, and
I look forward to hearing all about it in due course.
Keep up the much appreciated work.
Bruce
Couldn't this project be configured to automatically add observations of these taxa?
Thanks Murray. Maybe. The trick is that juveniles and non-reproductive adults get IDed as just Solanum, with the "it's a poroporo" field added. It seems to be working OK this way.
I expect the changing population pattern is due to Solanum laciniatum being sold more often as a garden plant, because it has showier flowers. Once fruit is set, birds spread the seed.
Add a Comment