Coprosma foetidissima

Coprosma foetidissima is an evergreen shrub or small tree of the madder family growing 2-5 m tall with slender, divaricately branched stems that form a somewhat tangled crown. The leaves are opposite, ovate to elliptic, 1-3 cm long, dark glossy green above and pale beneath, with entire margins and a short petiole; characteristically, all parts of the plant emit a strong unpleasant rotten-cabbage smell when bruised, giving the species its specific epithet 'foetidissima.' Flowers are small, inconspicuous, and dioecious, borne singly or in few-flowered clusters in the leaf axils; males have prominent dangling stamens with brownish-purple anthers while females have two long divergent styles. Fruits are succulent ovoid drupes 6-10 mm long, bright orange-red when ripe and persisting for some time. Endemic to forests and subalpine scrub throughout New Zealand and on the Auckland Islands, the species flowers in spring and fruits in late summer to autumn.