Coprosma lucida

Coprosma lucida, known in Maori as karamu or shining karamu, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the Rubiaceae endemic to New Zealand, where it is common in lowland to montane forest throughout the North and South Islands. It typically grows 2-6 m tall with stout, ascending branches and pale grey bark. The leaves are opposite, broadly elliptic to obovate, 8-17 cm long and 3-7 cm wide, exceptionally large for a Coprosma, with conspicuously thick, glossy, dark green upper surfaces and prominent pinnate venation; interpetiolar stipules bear a central black dot characteristic of the genus. The plant is dioecious: tiny, greenish, wind-pollinated male flowers are borne in slender axillary panicles, while female flowers are fewer and produce, by autumn, distinctive bright orange-red, ellipsoid drupes about 8-12 mm long that contrast vividly against the glossy foliage and are dispersed by native forest birds.