Coprosma repens
species of plant
Coprosma repens is a species of flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Coprosma, in the family Rubiaceae, native to New Zealand. Common names include taupata, tree bedstraw, mirror bush, looking-glass bush, New Zealand laurel and shiny leaf.
Description
The habit of this species varies markedly with its situation. In exposed situations, such as cliffs, it assumes a prostrate habit, while in more sheltered areas it can grow as a small tree up to 8 metres in height. It has thick and very glossy leaves which vary considerably in size, depending on exposure to the elements. The leaf margins are recurved, occasionally to the extent that the leaf may be cylindrical in cross-section. The shiny leaves aid its survival near coastal locations.
C. repens is dioecious. Flowers are produced in spring and summer, with the male flowers appearing in dense, compound clusters, and the female flowers in smaller clusters. Male flowers have a funnel shaped corolla that is 5 mm long, with lobes equal to the tube.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Coprosma repens” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Coprosma, repens and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5168970. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Coprosma repens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.