Clianthus

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Genus of legumes

title: "Clianthus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["fabaceae-genera", "galegeae", "trees-of-new-zealand", "endemic-flora-of-new-zealand", "flora-of-the-north-island"] description: "Genus of legumes" topic_path: "geography/new-zealand" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clianthus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of legumes ::

| name = Kakabeak | image = Clianthus puniceus.jpg | image_caption = Kakabeak leaves and flowers | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Clianthus | authority = Sol. ex Lindl. (1834 publ. 1835) | type_species = Clianthus puniceus | type_species_authority = (G. Don) Sol. ex Lindl. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =

Clianthus, commonly known as kaka beak (kōwhai ngutukākā in Māori), is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, comprising two species of shrubs endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.

Description and taxonomy

Kakabeak grows to around two metres high, with spreading branches producing leaf stalks up to 15 cm long bearing several pairs of small leaflets. They usually flower from spring through to early summer, but can flower twice a year or even year round.

Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected specimens of Clianthus in 1769 and C. puniceus was described in 1835. William Colenso identified two species of Clianthus as early as 1847 and described C. maximus in 1885. However Thomas Kirk reduced C. maximus to a variety of C. puniceus in 1899. Peter Heenan reinstated C. maximus as a separate species in 2000.

Clianthus forms a clade with the genus Carmichaelia, New Zealand broom. Together they form a larger clade with the Australian genus Swainsona and the New Zealand Montigena (scree pea). Sturt's desert pea, Swainsona formosa, has some similarities to kakabeak and was initially placed in the genus Clianthus. The fourth genus of New Zealand native legumes is Sophora, represented by eight species of kowhai. The floral emblem of South Australia, Swainsona formosa, formerly Clianthus dampieri, is similar.

History

Clianthus was traditionally cultivated by the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki people. The plants were used for nitrogen fixation of the kūmara plantations on Motukaraka Island, and the flowers for elaborate garlands for high-ranking women.

Kakabeak featured on New Zealand's definitive stamps from 1960 to 1969, initially on the pre-decimal 2d stamp, and then on its replacement 2c stamp from 1967.

The two species are the critically endangered Clianthus puniceus which is now known in the wild only on Moturemu Island in the Kaipara Harbour, and the endangered Clianthus maximus. In a 2005 survey, only 153 plants of C. maximus were found (down from over 1000 in 1996), mainly in the East Cape region. C. maximus is widely grown as a garden plant in New Zealand, but the cultivated lines are descended from only a few plants and are not genetically diverse. C. puniceus is cultivated and has given rise to award-winning cultivars.

Gallery

Image:CPuniceusDrawing.jpg|Botanical illustration from Cook's first voyage Image:Clianthus puniceus2.jpg|Variety with white flowers known as "Albus".

References

References

  1. [https://biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz/scientific-names/dd75138c-b833-4ebb-a0ae-67017a35de27 Entry in New Zealand Plants database], Landcare Research. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  2. [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:22037-1 ''Clianthus'' Sol. ex Lindl.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  3. Paddison, Valda. (2003). "The Gardener's Encyclopaedia of New Zealand Native Plants". Godwit.
  4. "''Kakabeak''", pp. 168-169 in Gerard Hutching's ''The Natural World of New Zealand'', Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 1998. {{ISBN. 0-670-87782-4
  5. Heenan, P.B.. (2000). "''Clianthus'' (Fabaceae) in New Zealand: a reappraisal of Colenso's taxonomy". New Zealand Journal of Botany.
  6. Wagstaff, Steven J.. (1999). "Classification, origins, and patterns of diversification in New Zealand ''Carmichaelia'' (Fabaceae)". American Journal of Botany.
  7. [http://www.rhizobia.co.nz/taxonomy/legume.html Taxonomy of New Zealand Native Legumes]. Retrieved 7 April 2006.
  8. "South Australia Flags & Emblems".
  9. La Roche, Alan. (2011). "Grey's Folly: A History of Howick, Pakuranga, Bucklands-Eastern Beaches, East Tamaki, Whitford, Beachlands and Maraetai". Tui Vale Productions.
  10. [http://www.biodiversity.govt.nz/news/media/current/23dec05.html Wild kakabeak close to extinction] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-10-14 , New Zealand Biodiversity, 23 December 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2008.)

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