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Coprosma propinqua

Common name:		Family:	Rubiaceae
Author:	Cunn.	Botanical references:	11, 44, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	New Zealand.
Habitat:	Damp places[11]. Gravelly places throughout New Zealand[225].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	propinqua = related to;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rubiales. Madder family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 6m. It is hardy to zone 7. It is in leaf all year, in flower from February to March, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and are pollinated by Wind. The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedge, Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Coffee; Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked[173]. Sweet, but with little flavour[225]. The pale to deep violet-blue fruit is about 8mm wide[200, 225].
The roasted seed is an excellent coffee substitute[153].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Dye; Hedge.

Tolerant of pruning, it makes a good dense hedging plant[225].
A yellow dye is obtained from the wood, it does not require a mordant[153].

Cultivation details

Requires a moist, very well-drained neutral to slightly acid soil in full sun or light shade[200]. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils[225].
Somewhat intolerant of frost, this species is only likely to succeed outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[11, 200]. Another report says that it is fully hardy in Britain[225]. It flowers freely in Britain, fruiting heavily if pollinated[225].
A polymorphic species, it hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[200, 225].
Plants are tolerant of heavy clipping or pruning[225].
Plants are normally dioecious, though in some species the plants produce a few flowers of the opposite sex before the main flowering and a few hermaphrodite flowers are sometimes produced[225]. Male and female plants must usually be grown if seed is required.

Propagation

Seed - probably best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse or cold frame[K]. Sow stored seed in spring in a cold frame[200]. Germination can be slow, often taking more than 12 months even when fresh seed is used[K]. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots. Grow on the plants for at least their first winter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring or early summer. Give the plants some protection from the cold for their first winter outdoors[K].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, autumn in a frame.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Rubiaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[44] Allan. H. H. Flora of New Zealand. Government Printer, Wellington. 1961
The standard work, in 3 volumes though only the first two are of interest to the plant project. Very good on habitats.

[153] Brooker. S. G., Cambie. R. C. and Cooper. R. C. Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. Oxford University Press 1991 ISBN 0-19-558229-2
An interesting and readable book on the useful plants of New Zealand.

[173] Crowe. A. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton 1990 ISBN 0-340-508302
A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[225] Knees. S. The New Plantsman. Volume 2, 1995. Royal Horticultural Society 1995 ISBN 1352-4186
A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Coprosma species,

Readers Comments

Coprosma propinqua

david n (davidni@xta.co.nz) Sun Feb 25 08:06:04 2001

Coprosma propinqua var. latiuscula

I think it is possible the purple berries of this coastal Var of propinqua made me a little sick, laxative and weakening, there are several other possibilities. It tastes like C.repens(nothing special) but perhaps alittle better as weaker in flavour. Collecting them is also fairly time consuming.This plant is stock resistant once established, perhaps hedge potential in non extreme coastal(survives the most exteme exposure but will be prostrate. It is spongey, matress like and probably could be slept on if one was desperate to find a use for it.

Coprosma propinqua

david (davidni@xtra.co.nz) Sat Oct 20 11:07:15 2001

The root bark of Coprosma propinqua contains Asperuloside,scopoletin,glucose and rhamnose (A New Zealand Phytochemical Register-Part 1 S Brooker B cain R Cambie,Tranactios of the Royal Society of New Zealand vol1 may 31 1963) The text does not say if other parts have been tested.

The best web site I know of for activities of plant chemicals is Dr Dukes Phytochemical and ethnobotanical database, I've not asked their permission to quote activities of above chemicals so won't do so. Some of the lists are huge and incomprehensible (to me) anyway.

diclaimer:It is quite likely injesting the bark could kill someone for all I know

The previous comment I made about C propinqua var. latiuscala being possibly poisnous appears to be false, poisoning by infected water was almost certainy the cause and I've tried them again with no noticable ill effect.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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